On 4 September 2017, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand organized a Brainstorming Session on “Future Direction of ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Cooperation and the East Asia Economic Community (EAEc) idea: the Way Forward”. The Session was moderated by Mr. Suriya Chindawongse, Director-General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. Participants were H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), H.E. Mr. Masataka Fujita, Secretary General of ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC), H.E. Mr. Kim Young-sun, Secretary General of ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC), Mr. Izuru Kobayashi, Chief Operating Officer of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), representatives of concerned governmental agencies and academic institutions of Thailand, and scholars from China and R.O. Korea.

The Session reviewed the development and achievements of APT cooperation, and held discussions on the opportunities and challenges in the building of an East Asia Economic community. All participants commended the fruitful achievements of APT cooperation in the past two decades, and looked forward to enhancing communications among all the countries in the region so as to deepen practical cooperation in various areas, continue to push forward regional economic integration, and bring more benefits to the people.