The Meeting of the NEAT Working Group on “Overall Architecture of Community Building in East Asia (Regional Architectures for Non-Traditional Security and Environmental Cooperation in East Asia)" was held under the sponsorship of the Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) on April 24 and 25, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 20 participants from all 13 NEAT member countries were engaged in free, lively, and productive discussions.
The NEAT Working Group (WG) focused on three main themes: cooperation on non-traditional security issues; pandemic threats; and environmental issues. The three main themes were chosen because their causes and effects are transnational, and require regional cooperation. Jointly addressing the problems shared by, and affecting, East Asian countries is crucial to fostering trust for community-building in the region.
The two-day meeting witnessed warm discussions and positive contributions from all participants and has yielded good outcomes.