May 4, 2005
Conference Center, Pacifico Yokohama

PRESENT
President	E. Santoro
President-elect	M. Kitajima
Secretary General	T. Yamaguchi
Treasurer	Y. Hiki
Editor	J.R. Siewert
7th IGCC Congress President	J. Gama-Rodrigues
Honorary Members	H. Sugano T. Takahashi
Honorary President	J.P. Kim
Council
M. Hakama T. Nakajima A. Garofalo M.S. Karphe W.C. You	Y. Kato M. Sobrinno-Simoes P. Kassab B. Mann M. Degivli (in place of F. Calvo)	K. Maruyama J.W.L. Fielding S.M. Kim Y.J. Mok
Office Secretary
M. Kaminishi W. Yasui Y. Otani	K. Miwa K. Arai Y. Seto	T. Sano M. Maruyama

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 13:15 and President of IGCA Dr. E. Santoro chaired the meeting.

WELCOME ADDRESS
Congress President Dr. M. Kitajima gave a welcome message to the Board.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA
The agenda was adopted.

ADOPTION OF MINUTES
The minutes of 2005 Council Meeting held in Yokohama was adopted.

REPORT OF SECRETARY GENERAL
Secretary General reported the number of membership of the Association. The unequal member distribution between countries is expected to be balanced in the future since majority of the Association come from Asian regions.

JOURNAL REPORT
Dr. Sano from editorial office explained the present status of the official journal Gastric Cancer; the number of submission has been gradually increasing since inclusion in the Medics.

1)	Introduction of Open Choice System- Springer Open Choice makes the papers in Gastric Cancer available with full free content 12 months after the first publication.
2)	Impact Factor - The Association has failed to get impact factor given by ISI. It is required to take some tactics so IF will be given in the next application two years ahead from now. It is important to make efforts to increase the number of citations- publishing the special issues of famous authors, more reviews, etc.
3)	Replacement of Editor-in-Chief Dr. O.Kobori, editor-in-Chief, asked his retirement to the Board, and the Board approved Dr. T. Sano as a new Editor-in-Chief.

REPORT OF TREASURER
Treasurer announced a financial report for the year 2003 and budget plan for the year 2004. In the Journal Report, the proposal of increased publication of Gastric Cancer was made for IF, but treasure advised that the proposal may be difficult from the financial aspects. The effort to increase the income of the Association is expected.

ELECTION OF 8th IGCC
Beijing, Seoul, Birmingham, and Krakow made a presentation at the Executive Committee Meeting. In accordance with recommendations of the Executive Committee, Krakow was elected as a host city for the 8th IGCC held in 2009.

ESTABLISHMENT OF AREA CHAPTER
This idea aims at spreading the Association because at this moment majority of the Association come from Asian regions. This proposal is still arguable.

6th IGCC REPORT
Congress Secretary General Dr. Otani showed the preview of the congress including special lectures, surgery demonstrations, etc.

7th IGCC REPORT
Congress Secretary General Dr. Kassab made a presentation for 7th IGCC held in Sao Paulo in 2007.

OTHERS
1) Selection of New Council Members
Korean delegates asked the replacement of council members, and the proposal was approved by the Board.
From Dr. S.M. Kim to Dr. H.K. Yang (Seoul National University)
From Dr. J.S. Min to Dr. S.H. Noh (Yonsei University)

2) Congress Financial Issue -Donation
The issue on the donation from congress was raised. It is agreed that donation is expected to be offered to the Association at the amount of around 20,000 dollars.

President Dr. E. Santoro gave closing remarks. The meeting adjourned at 14:45.A

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