ASEAN, Japan reaffirm commitment to strengthen partnership

JAKARTA, 11 March 2020- The 14^th ASEAN-Japan Joint Cooperation Committee Meeting held at the ASEAN Secretariat today underscored the commitment of both sides to further advance their partnership.

The meeting welcomed the progress in realising the Implementation Plan of the 2013 Vision Statement on ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation. Approximately 95% of the action lines under the Plan have been addressed. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in areas of common interest, including trade and investment, 4^th Industrial Revolution, disaster management, people-to-people exchanges, smart cities, e-commerce and cybersecurity.

The meeting discussed ways to implement the Joint Statement of the 22^nd ASEAN-Japan Summit on Connectivity adopted in November last year and welcomed initiatives from both sides to enhance the regional connectivity.

ASEAN appreciated Japan’s continued support for ASEAN’s development including its contribution to the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund. Priorities in 2020 would be given to supporting programmes and projects in the areas of maritime cooperation, connectivity, UN Sustainable Development Goals, economic and other areas such as digital economy, MSMEs, disaster management. Both sides welcomed the progress made in the implementation of the ASEAN-Japan Technical Cooperation Agreement signed in May 2019.

Both sides also exchanged views on developments in the region and stressed the need to sign the RCEP agreement this year. Japan underlined the need to promote cooperation to enhance synergy between the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific and Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to ASEAN Tran Duc Binh and Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN Akira Chiba and attended by members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political -Security Community, and their respective delegations.