It has been six months since the Commemorative Summit for the 50^th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation took place last December. The annual ASEAN events for this year have reached their halfway point, with preparations in full swing for the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' Meeting in July and the Summit in October.

In June, several meetings were conducted, the ASEAN+3 (APT), the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOM) were held for the first time this year in Vientiane, Lao PDR, hosting as ASEAN Chair. In addition, ASEAN also holds annual Ambassador-level meetings and SOM meetings under the framework of ASEAN+1 with 11 Dialogue Partners. For Japan, the ASEAN-Japan Joint Cooperation Committee (AJJCC) was held in Jakarta and the ASEAN-Japan Forum in Bangkok respectively this month. Furthermore, a joint visit to Timor-Leste with Ambassadors of the U.S. and the Republic of Korea to ASEAN was successfully conducted.

On 19 June, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) co-organised a Kick-Off Roundtable on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Women in the Digital Economy (WDE) in Jakarta. Foreign Minister of Japan Ms Kamikawa delivered a video message on this occasion. In late June, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs, Nararya Soeprapto visited Japan to participate in the International Participants Meetings (IPM) of the Osaka Kansai Expo in Nara and delivered an opening remarks at the ASEAN-G7 Legal and Justice Next Leaders Forum in Tokyo.