Fifth, no country in the world can aspire to achieve sustainable improvement in the living standards of its people unless it has invested in education health, nutrition, drinking water, in other words, in human development. This is going to be even more pressing in the 21st century as the world becomes a knowledge-based economy.
A literate, healthy, educated and continuously learning and adapting labor force will make the difference between the success and failure of countries. It is against this background that we should examine the future course of Economic Cooperation in Asia. There is no way that increased cooperation can be wished.