Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori met with leaders of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. The ASEAN leaders had come to Japan to attend the official funeral of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on June 8 (see preceding item). The main theme of the meeting was "The Kyushu-Okinawa Summit and Asia's Voice." The Prime Minister said that he would propose extending assistance to developing countries for information technology at the Summit and also expressed the idea of setting up a fund for channeling assistance to new ASEAN members, such as Cambodia and Vietnam, and to the ASEAN Secretariat.
The ASEAN leaders said they wanted the Summit to discuss such issues as reform of the international financial system, the strength and latent power of the Asian economy, and an early start to the World Trade Organization round of multilateral trade talks. All in all, the meeting served as a valuable opportunity for the Prime Minister to hear Asia's voice directly.