A 2004-2005 work plan and a detailed budget have been written down, so the last step before the start of discussions next May is completing the expected fundraising goals (if you wish to financially support this project, the Participation section will tell you how).

In order to launch a solid international workshop, a serious preparation work has been undertaken.

International Regulations Workshop Preparatory Meeting in October 2003

A specific Preparatory & Launching Meeting was held in Tokyo on October 9th to 11th, 2003. Participants were composed of both activists/campaigners on international regulations as well as Solidarity Economy ones.

The meeting combined work sessions with a one-day public presentation of the main issues at stake. (You will find the participants interventions in the Documents section). The internal workshop proved to be essential as it allowed to define the general common objectives as well as the five specific topic areas upon which discussion should be built. Taking into account that participants were representing two different visions-or at least approaches- of the world economy, finding a common work ground was simply a big success.

To know more about this meeting, please read Summary of the Tokyo Workshop Decisions.

Mumbai Work Meeting in January 2004

At the 4th World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, most members of the Preparatory meeting of Tokyo hold a brief meeting. Present were Marcos Arruda (Brazil), Christophe Aguiton (France), Njoki Njehu (USA/Kenya), Joy Kennedy (Canada), David Hillman (UK), Pierre Johnson (France), Heloisa Primavera (Argentina) and Yoko Kitazawa (Japan) with the exception of Oscar Ugarteche (Chile) and Reiko Inoue (Japan).

It was agreed that all the members of the Tokyo Preparatory Meeting would act as a steering committee to prepare an enlarged workshop planned in June 2005 in order to present our proposals on International Regulations and Controls for the coming UN Summit for Reviewing the Millennium Development Goals (MDG + 5) to be held in September 2005 in New York.

The members also assigned Yoko Kitazawa and Marcos Arruda to write a draft Work Plan and its Budget for the final workshop and agreed to discuss the paper through internet.

Walden Bello, who was unable to participate in the Tokyo Meeting in October 2003, was also at present in Mumbai and he agreed to act as a coordinator for the workshop with the condition that PARC in Tokyo will act as supporting office, including supervising research activities and coordinating Electronic Exchange Forum. A meeting between Walden Bello, Yoko Kitazawa and Reiko Inoue will take place on 30-31 March in Tokyo.