The Japan Business Federation, the country's top trade body, hosted its first summit here today bringing together business leaders from 11 Asian economies, including India, to deepen ties in promoting liberalisation of trade and infrastructure development.

Japan's most powerful business lobby, commonly known as Nippon Keidanren, has been pushing for economic integration within the vibrant Asian region, which it hopes will help drive the growth of the Japanese economy.

"The world economy has long been led by the United States and Europe," Keidanren Chairman Fujio Mitarai said in an opening speech. "But in the first half of the 21st century, the dynamism in Asia will drastically change the paradigm of the global economy."

The one-day gathering includes representatives of 13 private-sector organisations from the 11 economies, which include India, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

India was represented by the Confederation of Indian Industry Vice President Hari S Bhartia.

Japan, which already has a free trade agreement with Association of Southeast Asian Nations-ASEAN, looks to accelerate economic partnerships with India, South Korea and Australia.

"It is necessary to further promote the free flow of people, goods, services and information within the (Asian) region," said Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said at the outset of the summit.

Mitarai, who will step down in May as Keidanren Chairman,made a final initiative to boost private-sector cooperation and said "It is necessary for Asian business communities to work together and cooperate to establish a road map for creating an affluent economic society with the help of private-sector vitality.

In addition to trade, the participants are also scheduled to discuss how businesses and governments should cooperate in financing basic infrastructure needs in Asia such as roads and railways.

The summit agenda also includes discussions on climate and energy issues and on the protection of intellectual property.

A statement will be released at a joint press conference to be held at the end of the event, according to Keidanren.

The compiled recommendations will be submitted to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and to international conferences such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, to be hosted by Japan later this year.

The other participants invited by the federation include Wang Zhongyu, president of the China Enterprise Confederation and Cho Suck Rai, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries