The visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Mme. Mariko Suga to Indonesia on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, was part of PM Suga’s first series of visits after being appointed prime minister on September 16, 2020. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that this visit showed the importance of Indonesia and the Southeast Asian region for Japan.

In the bilateral meeting, the two leaders discussed a number of issues, including pandemic management cooperation. President Jokowi said Indonesia and Japan also share a common vision in advancing multilateralism, including equal access to affordable vaccines. The Head of State said that Indonesia appreciated Japan’s commitment to contribute to the establishment of the ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund.

“I also invite Japan to strengthen health governance in the region to deal with future pandemics, including the establishment of the ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergency and Emerging Diseases,” he added.

The Feasibility Study on the Establishment of “ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases” is currently on-going and supported by the Government of Japan through Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).

During visit to Vietnam, Prime Minister Suga delivered his speech at the Vietnam-Japan University (VJU), which is a symbol of Japan-ASEAN Cooperation.

He started by sharing his life journey that led him to become Prime Minister of Japan. He then shared his sense of affinity to the country and ASEAN. In his speech, he mentioned about long-standing Japan-ASEAN cooperation in helping each other as friends in Asia. Japan is implementing the Covid-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support yen Loans worth up to 500 billion yen over the next two years to support economic activities of countries with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region including ASEAN. Moreover, Japan and ASEAN are currently working together towards the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for public health emergencies and emerging diseases with the aim to strengthen ASEAN’s response capacity to infectious diseases.

Japan and ASEAN also cooperate to reduce trade barriers by concluding bilateral economic partnership agreements, starting with the Japan-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement, and the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP), and also to pursue rule-making on regional economic activities. In digital technology sector, ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre (AJCCBC) was established in Bangkok two years ago by Japan’s cooperation contributes to safeguarding regional cyberspace together, and to creating economies that enable companies to do business safely.

He concluded by encouraging collaboration between Japan-ASEAN in moving forward to accomplish a free, open and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The Feasibility Study on the Establishment of “ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases”, ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) and ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre (AJCCBC) are supported by the Government of Japan through Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).

On 24 September, H.E. Ambassador Akira Chiba, Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN, attended the Graduation Ceremony of Attachment Programme through video conference, celebrating 12 Attachment Officers upon their completion of the Programme. Attendees to the ceremony included H.E. Aladdin D. Rillo, Deputy Secretary-General of the ASEAN; H.E. Ambassador Aung Myo Mint, Permanent Representative of Myanmar to ASEAN and Chair of Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Task Force; as well as Permanent Representatives of CLMV countries.

Attachment Programme dispatches young governmental officials from CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam) to the ASEAN Secretariat for one year, with a view to enhancing administrative capacities of the participants, as well as narrowing the gap between CLMV countries and other six ASEAN countries. The programme has fostered a number of promising officials in CLMV countries for the past years. The Government of Japan supports the programme through Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).

On 29 and 30 September 2020, International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia conducted the Online Regional Workshop on Evaluation Sharing and Lessons Learned from the Piloting of ASEAN Guiding Principles for Quality Assurance and Recognition of Competency Certification Systems within Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Participated by SLOM representatives and officials from the competent authorities for competency certification of six ASEAN Member States, representatives from AQRF Committee, ASEAN TVET Council, ILO and the ASEAN Secretariat, the two-day online workshop saw sharing of experiences and lessons learned from the process of benchmarking of skills/competency assessment and certification system of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines against the ASEAN Guiding Principles and discussed the forward planning for the application of the ASEAN Guiding Principles in ASEAN Member States. This workshop is part of a two-year project to increasingly align ASEAN Member States national frameworks with the ASEAN Guiding Principles and led by Indonesian Professional Certification Authority with support from IOM and the ASEAN Secretariat.

The Strengthening the Quality Assurance and Competency Certification Systems through the Application of ASEAN Guiding Principles for Quality Assurance and Recognition of Competency Certification Systems within ASEAN Economies is supported by Government of Japan through Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).

The ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference (PMC) 10+1 Session with Japan was held on 9 September 2020. The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, and H.E. Mr. Motegi Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan.

ASEAN and Japan reviewed their relations over the past year and reiterated their commitment to further strengthening their partnership and cooperation through effective implementation of the Revised Implementation Plan of the Vision Statement on ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation: Shared Vision, Shared Identity, Shared Future, which will contribute to continued efforts toward the realisation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.

The Meeting underscored the importance of ASEAN-Japan cooperation in mitigating the impact of the Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (Covid-19) Pandemic. ASEAN appreciated Japan’s support for the establishment of the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases, for which a feasibility study funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) is being conducted. The Ministers look forward to the formal announcement on the establishment of this Center at the 23rd ASEAN-Japan Summit in November 2020 as one of important deliverables of ASEAN-Japan cooperation.

The Chairman’s Statement recognized projects supported by the Government of Japan through Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) as follows:

• Technical Assistance for Development of the SOMTC-Japan Work Plan for Cooperation to Combat Terrorism and Transnational Crime (2018-2022)
• ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity Capacity Building Centre (Step 2)
• IAI Attachment Programme at the ASEAN Secretariat for Junior Diplomats of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (16^th Batch) and 5th Batch: Attachment of Officers from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam for AEC and ASCC Involvement at the ASEAN Secretariat (2019-2020)
• Promotion of ASEAN Smart City Network (ASCN) by Commencing a High-Level Meeting
• Promotion of the Cooperation between ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) and Japan by the 2nd High-Level Meeting in Japan
• Continued support for the work of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre)
• Japan’s Friendship Ties Programs JENESYS 2020 “Inbound, Outbound and Follow Up Project”