The first trilateral meeting of the heads of NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China), KOSEF (Korea Science and Engineering Foundation), and JSPS was held in Tokyo, hosted by Prof. Motoyuki Ono, President of JSPS.

Prof. Jia'er Chen, President of NSFC, and Dr. Chung-Duk Kim, Chairman of KOSEF, and Prof. Ono of JSPS agreed to deepen further the close relationship among three major funding agencies for research in Asia.

All three countries, Japan, China and Korea, regard science and technology as the most important factor in achieving sustained development and prosperity in their societies. As the key players in promoting science in each country, JSPS, NSFC and KOSEF implement various initiatives and projects. Within this context, JSPS proposed holding the 1^st Asian HORCs (Heads of Research Councils) Meeting to discuss major, sometimes complex, scientific issues and to develop personal relations among the leaders with an aim at finding yet more effective ways of promoting scientific exchange.

In addition to the three heads, the Asian HORCs meeting was also attended by Dr. Minghong He, Director of Bureau of Planning, and Dr. Yinglan Zhang, Director of Division, Bureau of International Cooperation, from NSFC; Mr. Sang-Keun Lee, Director of Management and Planning Division, and Mr. Byung-Whan Ho, Director of International Program Division, from KOSEF; and Ms. Yuko Furukawa, Deputy Director of International Program Department, and Mr. Tsuyoshi Enomoto, Head of Asian Program Division, from JSPS.

The meeting was held at Hotel Nikko Tokyo on 6 November. Welcoming all of the members of the Chinese and Korean delegations, Prof. Ono said:

"JSPS, NSFC and KOSEF have been good friends for many years. We enjoy many joint programs and scientific collaborations. My idea for holding this Meeting was a very simple one: To cultivate a deeper friendship as we are such close neighbors. We have opportunities to see each other on various occasions, but I thought getting together in this kind of a direct forum could be more effective in promoting our partnership in Asia."

"I know each of us has many collaborations with other countries, including the US, Europe, and other countries of the West. We need, at the same time, to emphasize the importance of working together within the Asia region. JSPS would like to develop even closer ties with Asian countries, especially China and Korea, with whom we share many common values and ways of thinking."

"As this is the first opportunity for us to meet together in this manner, I think we should focus on friendly relations, rather than on practical collaborations."

During the meeting, Prof. Ono, Prof. Chen and Dr. Kim gave presentations on the state of science and technology in their respective countries, followed by discussions on a variety of ways in which they can work together more closely and effectively.