May 13 - 15, 2004 Seoul, Republic of Korea

About 80 persons from all member countries and prominent international, regional, and national organizations participated in the conference. Mongolia joined the SCA as a new member country after gaining approval by consensus of the members present at the General Assembly. There were about 300 participants at the Academic Symposium, at which Mr. Byung Young Ahn, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, delivered the welcome address.

The Symposium organized by the host country was composed of three sessions: Symposium I: “Globalization of Asian Economy;” Symposium II: “Frontiers in Chemical Research;” and SCA Joint Projects. At Symposium I, Prof. Dong Ki Kim, Member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of the ROK, gave a keynote lecture entitled “Globalization of the Asian Economy: With Special Reference to the Experience of Korea.” His speech was followed by two invited lectures: “Globalization of Asian Economy and the Role of Science for Sustainable Society: Japan Perspective” by Prof. Yasuhiro Sakai, Member of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ) and “East Asia after the Financial Crisis: What’s Next?” by Prof. Mohamed Ariff, Executive Director of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research. The 2001 Nobel Laureate Ryoji Noyori, President of RIKEN (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research) and Professor of Nagoya University, Japan, gave the keynote lecture at Symposium II. His lecture was entitled “Asymmetric Catalysis: Science and Opportunities.” The two invited lectures that followed the keynote address were “Organometallic Chemistry: A Venerable Tool for the Development of New Materials” by Prof. Youngkyu Do, Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and “Chemistry of the Marine Bistetrahydroisoquinoline Alkaloids, Renieramycins and the New Frontier Anticancer Agents” by Prof. Khanit Suwanborirux of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

Progress reports on the two SCA Joint Projects adopted at the first conference were presented. Dr. Omar Abdul Rahman, Senior Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, spoke on “Knowledge for Sustainable Development: Science and Technology for Sustainability” and Dr. Montri Chulavatnatol, Vice President of the Thai Academy of Science and Technology, discussed “Sustainable Development Indicators: A Progress Report.” Of the 15 projects proposed at the second and third conferences, five progress reports were presented.

The General Assembly approved the Guidelines for SCA Joint Projects. Two special lectures were delivered by observer organizations: APEC spoke on “Achieving Sustainability with Economic Growth” and ASEAN discussed “Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Each member country gave a presentation on the current status of science and technology.

 Chairperson's Summary