About SPAF

The Sasakawa Pan Asia Fund was established in 1992 within the Sasakawa Peace Foundation as an independent fund used exclusively for four countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. At the time of its establishment, the Fund was known as the "Sasakawa Southeast Asia Cooperation Fund," and worked to strengthen ties between Japan and the four countries, and offered training to assist the countries with transition and economic reform as they strove to gain membership of ASEAN.

In 2002, the Fund adopted its present title and expanded its scope to encompass South East, North East, South, and Central Asia. Since then, the Fund has amplified its efforts in people-to-people exchanges, human resource development, and policy-oriented research in response to the emerging frameworks of regional cooperation including ASEAN+3 and the East Asia Union.

The Fund has noted the drastic changes in relationships among Asian countries brought about by the increasing influence of China and India and the ever quickening pace of the globalization movement. Faced with these changes, some world-wide, others regional, Asia needs to nurture leaders who can take on the challenges that lie ahead in a variety of fields. It is also important to create opportunities for dialogue between these leaders. The Fund believes that these efforts will promote regional collaboration and further unification.