20 Jul 2017
20-Jul-2017
Source: ASEAN Secretariat News
ASEAN, Japan Reaffirm Commitment to Forge Closer Cooperation
JAKARTA, 20 July 2017 – The 11th Meeting of the ASEAN-Japan Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) held in Jakarta today renewed the commitment of both sides to enhance cooperation. The annual JCC meeting is a key mechanism of ASEAN-Japan cooperation.
The Meeting welcomed the continued efforts to further strengthen the ASEAN-Japan partnership as manifested through the significant progress in the implementation of agreed activities and projects. ASEAN and Japan will also examine new cooperation areas to address current development and integration priorities, as envisaged in the ASEAN Vision 2025.
Japan remains ASEAN’s second largest trading partner and the second largest source of foreign direct investment. Both sides reaffirmed commitment to the doubling of two-way trade and investment flow by 2022, a target announced by ASEAN and Japan’s Economic Ministers in 2012. This aspiration is to be realized through the enhancement of implementation of programs and projects identified in the ASEAN-Japan 10-Year Strategic Economic Cooperation Roadmap (2012-2022).
ASEAN and Japan will also step up joint efforts to address transboundary challenges such as terrorism and cybercrime, as well as enhance cooperation in other areas of concern such as the adverse effects of climate change and natural disasters. ASEAN acknowledged Japan’s financial and technical support to strengthen the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre).
The Meeting recognized Japan’s continued efforts to support ASEAN’s development programs through dedicated mechanisms such as the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) which has been an important vehicle in the implementation of capacity-building and human resource development projects. Both sides also agreed to explore ways to further enhance cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Pengiran Hjh Faezah Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman, Permanent Representative of Brunei Darussalam to ASEAN and Kazuo Sunaga, Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN, and attended by the Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States and representative of the ASEAN Secretariat.
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