Asian countries should cooperate in tackling a looming global recession, and Japan can play a key role in doing so, according to an executive of an international business organization.
Because Japan is a leading economic power in Asia, "If Japan is not feeling well, no one (in the region) feels healthy," said Robert Lees, secretary general of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, an international business organization comprising some 1,100 corporate members from 20 countries.
Lees, who was in Tokyo last week after an Asian tour that included Hong Kong and the Philippines, said in an interview with The Japan Times that the region's political and business leaders are increasingly concerned about the state of Japan's economy.