I have been involved in the GPAC activity since 2002. Personally, I had attended the GPAC 2006 meeting in Okinawa, Japan; GPAC 2007 meeting in Taipei, Taiwan; and GPAC 2008 meeting in Seoul, Korea. It is encouraging to see the expansion of GPAC community over time in terms of participating countries, students, and professors.

GPAC not only enables participants to learn the development of Asian economies from each other but also cultivate mutual understanding of different cultures and friendship among them. Many of our students have ranked GPAC meeting as one of the most exciting and memorable activity during their college years. Since many of the participating students will be future leaders in their countries, I believe GPAC will contribute significantly to the peace and economic development in Asia for many years to come. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the co-founders of GPAC community, Professor Shimada and Professor Min, for their persistent, important contribution to this community.

I am looking forward to another successful GPAC meeting this year in Vietnam.