Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Saturday described his two-day series of meetings with his counterparts from East Asian countries here as "beneficial and positive."
Mori said the meetings helped set the direction for regional cooperation in the 21st century. He said the meetings between Japan, China, South Korea and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the meeting between Japan and ASEAN countries, and the Japan-China-South Korea summit were all fruitful.
In Friday's conference among the leaders of 13 East Asian states, dubbed the ASEAN-plus-three summit, Mori proposed that the countries build on three principles of regional cooperation.
Mori proposed building partnerships, promoting open regional cooperation and expanding dialogue from mainly economic issues to also include politics and security.