A fledgling forum of 27 East Asian and Latin American countries will get down to business early next month on drafting a package of specific proposals to shore up nascent trans-Pacific cooperation in economic and social areas.
According to government sources, the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation's working group on economic and social issues will hold its first meeting March 7-8 in Tokyo to analyze the two regions' current economic and social conditions and common challenges they face.
The sources said that delegates will focus on four specific themes: institution-building and governance, fostering entrepreneurship and developing small and medium-size enterprises, eradicating poverty through economic development and bringing information technology to developing countries.