JAKARTA, 6 November 2015 – The 9th Meeting of the ASEAN-Japan Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) held yesterday in Jakarta reaffirmed commitment to forge closer ASEAN-Japan cooperation. The annual JCC Meeting is a key mechanism to review ASEAN-Japan cooperation and discuss its future direction.
The Meeting acknowledged the continued good momentum to strengthen ASEAN-Japan cooperation particularly since the Special Summit on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of ASEAN-Japan relations in 2013. The two sides welcomed the significant progress in the implementation of the activities and projects under the Implementation Plan of the Vision Statement on ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation adopted in December 2013 as well as the present ASEAN-Japan Plan of Action 2011-2015.
The Meeting noted that substantive progress has been made in following up to the decisions of the 17th ASEAN-Japan Summit last November. Officials of both sides are working expeditiously toward finalizing the Trade in Services and Investment Chapter under the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Partnership within this year, and to achieve the targets of the ASEAN-Japan 10-Year Strategic Economic Cooperation Roadmap (2012-2022) to double trade and investment flows by 2022. A work plan was adopted in September to enhance cooperation in combatting transnational crimes. Japan has also been actively working with ASEAN in addressing climate change and natural disasters through substantial financial and technical support to strengthen the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre). Cooperation has also been stepped up in energy, public health, connectivity, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Development cooperation constitutes a key area of ASEAN-Japan collaboration. ASEAN Member States acknowledged Japan’s active role in contributing to ASEAN’s development through financial and technical support and assistance for relevant activities and projects under the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). ASEAN also recognized and expressed appreciation for Japan’s continued support for ASEAN Community-building efforts beyond 2015. Both sides also updated each other on recent developments in their respective regions.
The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Emaleen Abdul Rahman Teo, Permanent Representative of Brunei Darussalam to ASEAN and H.E. Koichi Aiboshi, Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN, and attended by the Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States and representative of the ASEAN Secretariat.