Insights for the Future

In years to come, when these young men and women take up the reins of academia, business and government, these personal ties should contribute much to the spirits of cooperation and cultural diversity, which will flourish in the context of increasing regional integration of economic and social development.

The participants in this year's forum will return home pursue the insights gained in Singapore, to debate them with their fellow citizens. They and others like them will engage in subsequent forums, all the better equipped to renew the great regional discussion of models for appropriate development. The success of this year's initiative has already laid the groundwork for the next forum. Hitachi has published a white paper summarizing the forum papers and discussions for distribution to schools, universities and relevant government agencies.

The Initiative has contributed to an ever sounder foundation of mutual understanding, consensus and diversity, where the future leaders of Asia can learn from each other's experience and cooperate in the discovery of new ways into the future. In response to a student delegate who asked what the "standard of Asian values" was, Rear Admiral Teo Chee Hean answered, "It's you who'll have to decide that."