The 5th Senior Officials Meeting was organized on 24-26 February 1999 in Kobe, Japan. Expressing that NEASPEC is the only subregional framework of its kind which promotes modest but practical environmental cooperation, the Meeting further stressed that cooperation among North-East Asian countries is indispensable for future generations as a means to realize a century of peace and prosperity provided that the opportunities in the framework would be fully utilized. The Meeting also recognized the urgent need for exchange of views on environmental policy matters among the neighboring countries and the promotion of sustainable development. It pointed out that the wealth of expertise should be fully utilized for promoting further cooperation. The senior officials also stated their preference for maintaining various subregional environmental cooperation activities recognizing the efforts at capacity building and information exchange. In addition, the Meeting reaffirmed that the four second phase projects should be built on the tangible results of the completed projects and urged each of the participating countries and collaborating agencies to continue the efforts and supports to those projects.