Autonomous agents and multiagent systems are computational systems in which several (semi-)autonomous agents interact each other or work together to perform some set of tasks or satisfy some set of goals. These systems may involve computational agents that are homogeneous or heterogeneous, they may involve activities on the part of agents having common goals or distinct goals, and they may involve participation on the part of humans and intelligent agents.

PRIMA is Pacific Rim conference related to autonomous agents and multiagent systems. Though we already have several workshops/conferences in Pacific Rim countries, such as MACC (Multiagent Systems and Cooperative Computation) in Japan from 1991, and Australian Workshop on Distributed Artificial Intelligence from 1995, there is less interaction so far among the countries compared to Europe and Americas.

The aim of this conference is to encourage activities in this field, and to bring together Pacific Rim researchers with agents and multiagent issues. Unlike usual conferences, this conference will mainly discuss and explore scientific and practical problems as raised by the participants. Participation is thus by invitation only and is limited to professionals who have made significant contributions to the topics of the conference. The contributions may include technical presentations, progress reports and so on. In order to activate and unite agent research communities in Pacific Rim countries, the conference should also include discussions for future collaboration: how the next meeting should be organized.