On June 4-6, 2004, in Olongapo City, Philippines, the Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) and Rights & Democracy hosted a regional seminar on the issue of Asian economic cooperation and human rights.

The event, entitled Regional Economic Cooperation and Human Rights in Asia, brought together approximately 40 civil society representatives and academics from across South Asia and Southeast Asia. Through a series of workshops and discussion panels, participants evaluated the current status of cooperation agreements in South and Southeast Asia and assessed their impact on human rights in the region.

This report provides a synopsis of the a various panel presentations and workshop discussions, with a revised version of the seminar's background paper entitled; Economic Integration and Human Rights in Asia: An Overview. We have also included selected conference papers in their entirety in order to reflect the diversity of the discussion. Finally, the event agenda and participant list is annexed.

It should be noted that there is always a risk of error or omission when summarizing spoken presentations. Any errors or misinterpretations that appear in this seminar report are entirely the fault of the editor and should not be attributed to the speakers themselves.

Rights & Democracy and the Asia Pacific Research Center hope that this compilation of materials will be a useful resource for organizations and individuals considering the adoption of a human rights framework to address poverty and underdevelopment in Asia. We welcome comments and suggestions and encourage further discussion via a new email list established for this purpose. To join the email list, please contact the APRN secretariat at secretariat@aprnet.org for more details.

Antonio Tujan Jr.
Asia Pacific Research Network

Jean-Louis Roy
Rights & Democracy

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