I.          Recent Developments  

The 10^th ASEAN-Japan Summit was held on 14 January 2007 in Cebu , Philippines . At the Meeting the following areas of cooperation were highlighted:  

1.       Progress report in the Plan of Action to Implement the Declaration for a Dynamic and Enduring ASEAN-Japan Partnership in the New Millennium adopted in Tokyo in 2003.

2.       Japan ’s financial and other forms of initiatives:

a.       US$52 million towards the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership

b.      US$67 million (over the US$150 million already disbursed) towards addressing the problem of avian influenza and other pandemic diseases.

c.       Hosting of the International Forum on Tsunami and Earthquake in Kobe in January 2007.

d.      Establishment of an ASEAN-Japan Eminent Persons Group to study and make recommendations on the future direction of ASEAN-Japan relations.  

e.      US$315 million over the next five years for an “East Asia Youth Ship” project to commemorate ASEAN’s 40^th Anniversary. 6,000 youth will be invited from ASEAN and EAS member-countries to visit Japan per year.

f.         Progress in East Asia Cooperation: Hosting of the 1^st East Asia Gender and Equality Ministerial Meeting and Informal Ministerial Meeting on Science Technology. Sponsorship of the Track II study of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA). Proposal to establish an Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

g.      Japan ’s new offer to expand its ODA to the Mekong region in the next three years.

h.       Japan ’s offer to provide and share modern equipment, ships and training towards maritime security. 

3.       Signing, as scheduled, in April 2007, of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) Agreement.

4.       Undertaking of proposed reforms of the ASEAN-Japan Centre.

5.       Japan ’s [and the international community’s] security and humanitarian concerns, including the abduction issue, brought on by the recent developments in the Korean Peninsula .

II.         Background

ASEAN-Japan relations started out with informal exchanges in 1973 and was formalized as a dialogue partnership in 1977 with the establishment of the ASEAN-Japan Forum. The forum was entrusted with the task of reviewing, monitoring and recommending measures to strengthen and expand cooperation between ASEAN and Japan , particularly in the field of industrial development, trade, food and agriculture. The 1980’s saw a proliferation of Japan assistance programs- the Japan scholarships for ASEAN Youth established in 1980, the ASEAN Promotion Programme in 1983, the Friendship Programme for the 21^st Century in 1984, and the Intra-ASEAN Technical Exchange Programme in 1987, and the Japan-ASEAN Exchange Programme in 1988. In 1992, periodic consultations between AEM/SEOM and Japan ’s Ministry for International Trade and Industry (MITI) started. Japan has extended assistance in human resource development in areas such as energy, transportation, vocational training industrial relations, environmental protection and irrigation systems management.

Japanese Interests

Japan has an all-around strategic interest in deepening political engagements with its southern neighbors.  It seeks to use Southeast Asia ’s economies to advance in industrial policy and other economic interests.  Japan promotes cultural relations to advance on strategic interests.  Japan also wields the economic and financial power through its extensive trade and investment engagement with ASEAN and massive ODA to advance in political and economic interests.  

ASEAN’s Interests

ASEAN has a deep and long-standing interest in Japan’s market, investments, tourism, technology and ODA.  Japan’s vital and strategic interest in political and economic relations with Southeast Asia should be used by ASEAN to induce Japan to open its market to ASEAN products, stimulate its economy and its ability to import from ASEAN, transfer technology to ASEAN, maintain its ODA, and ensure its support for ASEAN positions in international forums.

Relations between ASEAN and Japan have been further enhanced and strengthened by the signing of the “ Tokyo Declaration for the Dynamic and Enduring ASEAN-Japan Partnership in the New Millennium” and the adoption of the “ASEAN-Japan Plan of Action (POA)” at the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit held on 11-12 December 2003 in Tokyo . The POA, which aims to implement the Tokyo Declaration by providing recommendations for various measures and actions that will further enhance cooperation between ASEAN and Japan, covers a six-year period from 2004 to 2009. The Tokyo Declaration and the ASEAN-Japan POA have been blueprints in moving forward ASEAN-Japan relations and providing guideline and direction for future cooperation. The documents reflect the commitment of both sides to develop an enduring and comprehensive partnership in the 21^st century.  

To monitor the implementation of the ASEAN-Japan POA, an Executive Report on the Progress of Implementation of the ASEAN-Japan POA which would report on the progress of implementation of the measures and actions enumerated under the POA and would provide an outline and overall assessment of the implementation of the common strategies to be utilized in achieving the objectives of the POA over the next two years. The first Executive Report was presented to the 8^th ASEAN-Japan Summit held in Vientiane in November 2004, the second to the 9^th ASEAN-Japan Summit in December 2005 in Kuala Lumpur and the third to the 10^th ASEAN-Japan Summit in January 2007 in Cebu . The 3^rd Executive Report provided an update of accomplishments as follows: 

1.       Reinforcing Comprehensive Economic Partnership and Monetary Cooperation;

2.       Consolidating the Foundation for Economic Development and Prosperity;

3.       Support for the Mekong Region Development;

4.       Strengthening political and security cooperation;

5.       Promoting human resource development, exchanges and social and cultural cooperation;

6.       Deepening East Asia cooperation;

7.       Cooperation in addressing global issues; and

8.       Overall assessment of the institutional and funding arrangements for the implementation of the POA. 

III.        Political and Security Cooperation

ASEAN and Japan have deepened and broadened their cooperation to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the region through various established mechanisms under the ASEAN-Japan dialogue, namely Summit, ministerial meetings, senior officials meetings and meetings at the expert levels as well as through multilateral frameworks initiated by ASEAN such as ARF, PMC 10+10, and ASEAN Plus Three process. Japan ’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia on 2 July 2004 in Jakarta has added the importance to the TAC as a code of conduct governing relations among countries and a diplomatic instrument for the promotion of peace and stability in the region. 

ASEAN and Japan have enhanced closer cooperation in maintaining peace and stability in the region and in addressing issues on counter-terrorism, anti-piracy and combating other transnational crimes. ASEAN and Japan held the inaugural SOMTC-Japan Consultation on 29 September 2004 in Bandar Seri Begawan . ASEAN and Japan adopted the Joint Declaration for Cooperation on the Fight Against International Terrorism at the ASEAN-Japan Summit on 30 November 2004 in Vientiane . The ASEAN-Japan Counter-Terrorism Dialogue held on 28-29 June 2006 in Tokyo discussed and identified areas of cooperation in combating terrorism, which includes transport security, border control/immigration, law enforcement, maritime security, public involvement in countering terrorism, and capacity-building on legal affairs.  

IV.          Economic Cooperation

ASEAN and Japan continues to be important trading partners. The Leaders of ASEAN and Japan signed the Joint Declaration of the Leaders of ASEAN and Japan on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership (CEP) and the Framework for CEP between ASEAN and Japan on 5 November 2002 in Phnom Penh and on 8 October 2003 in Bali , respectively.  

The implementation of the ASEAN-Japan CEP (AJCEP), including elements of a possible free trade area, is expected to be completed before or by 2012, taking into account the economic levels and sensitive sectors in each country, including allowing additional five years for the new ASEAN Member Countries. The negotiations for the regional ASEAN-Japan CEP were launched in Tokyo on 14-15 April 2005.  

In terms of trade, In 2004, Japan overtook the US as ASEAN’s largest trading partner.  After a negative growth in 2002, ASEAN-Japan bilateral trade has grown steadily. In 2004, total trade increased by 19.9% or from US$113.4 billion in 2003 to US$135.9 billion in 2004.  As of the first quarter of 2005, bilateral trade between ASEAN and Japan was already valued at US$29.8 billion. Japan is also ASEAN’s third largest source of FDI.  

V.         Development Cooperation

In addition to being one of ASEAN's most important economic partners, Japan is a major contributor to development cooperation activities. The latest of such is PM Koizumi’s pledge on creating a new fund called the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), of which the amount equivalent to USD 70 million pledged has been unprecedented, with USD 30 Million of the fund already disbursed for the creation of a regional stockpile of Tamiflu and protective kits in Singapore to combat and contain the Avian Flu threat.  

Japan supports the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP) and ASEAN Community building efforts of ASEAN. Japan provided technical assistance to ASEAN through several programmes, such as the Japan-ASEAN Exchange Programme (JAEP) and the Japan-ASEAN General Exchange Fund (JAGEF). Development cooperation covers wide-range of areas, including support for the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), HRD, ICT, youth, customs and others.  

As a part of support for narrowing the development gap and ASEAN integration, Japan has supported 24 IAI projects in human resource development (HRD) in the areas of energy, transportation, vocational training, industrial relations, environmental protection, irrigation system management, and management programmes for senior officials of CLMV countries through its sectoral ministries, the Japan-ASEAN General Exchange Fund (JAGEF), the ASEAN Foundation and JICA totalling about US$4,732,120. Japan has also supported the integration of CLMV through the Mekong basin development framework. From December 2003 to November 2006, in the pursuit of the expected target of USD 1.5 billion over the three years since the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit, Japan provided assistance totaling approximately USD 1.5 billion for the Mekong Region Development and Japan has successfully achieved the committed amount.  

Japan also supported other sub-regional development areas of ASEAN such as the East West Corridor, Greater Mekong Sub-region, Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and others to promote economic and social development of the regions.  

ASEAN and Japan have placed emphasis on people-to-people and cultural exchanges, particularly among the youths and intellectuals, with a view to fostering a sense of togetherness, mutual trust, respect and understanding of each other’s traditions and values.