Message from the Asia Society Chairman

Dear Conference Delegates:

I am pleased to send this message to mark the occasion of the opening of Asia Society's 17th Asian Corporate Conference in Asia. For the first time in 14 years this conference is being held in Tokyo. This gives me personal pleasure, even though an unbreakable prior commitment makes it impossible to join you. I first visited Japan in 1963, and have been there close to one hundred times since. I have long believed that the US-Japan relationship is key to stability and progress in the Asia-Pacific region, and the rise of China, while of immense historic importance, does not change my view. As the world's second-largest economy, Japan is once again poised to assert its position as an engine of growth in Asia, and its economic resurgence creates a unique opportunity to define its leadership role in the regional and global context. Asia Society is deeply grateful for the Japanese government's full engagement and support, including the inaugural Keynote Address by Prime Minister The Honorable Shinzo Abe.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Japanese hosts, co-organizers, international sponsors and all of the senior government and business leaders who have come from all over Asia and the world to gather here in Tokyo to explore Japan's economic resurgence and Asia's rise in the global economy.

For more than 50 years, Asia Society has been devoted to strengthening partnerships and deepening understanding among peoples, leaders and institutions of Asia and the US. Our commitment to providing a three-dimensional understanding of Asian societies across the fields of arts, policy, business, and education continues to be a cornerstone of our work. This conference, now in its 17th year, is our signature business program in Asia, bringing together business and government leaders from across the region and the US to focus on current issues and trends.

I hope you will find the meetings fruitful and enjoyable. Thank you for supporting the work of the Asia Society.