Japan sets up committee to support ASEAN's connectivity plan

+

NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov. 26 Kyodo -
Senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan held a
meeting Friday on Bali in which the Japanese side reiterated its support for
ASEAN's implementation of a master plan on connectivity among its 10 member
countries.
The ''Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity,'' adopted by ASEAN leaders during
their summit in Hanoi last month, lays out strategies to boost the road, rail,
shipping, air and other links among ASEAN members in a bid to reduce economic
disparities in Southeast Asia and help ASEAN achieve its goal of an economic
community by 2015.
''Japan has already prepared a committee to help the implementation of the
master plan,'' Djauhari Oratmangun, director general for ASEAN Cooperation at
the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, told reporters at the 26th ASEAN-Japan Forum
meeting.
Japan, he said, is ''looking forward and very much keen to contribute to the
ASEAN community building.''
''There has been a huge commitment from both sides, particularly from Japan, to
fully implement the process of ASEAN integration toward 2015, because it will
bring benefits for both sides,'' he added.
The master plan calls for efforts to improve the region's connectivity in three
areas -- physical connectivity such as transport and information communications
technology infrastructure; institutional connectivity such as trade and
investment liberalization; and people-to-people connectivity such as tourism
and education.
Friday's meeting commenced the process of reviewing the Tokyo Declaration for
the Dynamic and Enduring ASEAN-Japan Partnership in the New Millennium and its
action plan with a view to issuing a new declaration and the revised action
plan at the 14th ASEAN-Japan Summit to be held in Bali next year.
Signed in 2003, the Tokyo declaration has served as a road map in moving
forward ASEAN-Japan relations, shaping the future course for cooperation
between both sides in political, economic, social, cultural and security
fields.
ASEAN and Japan first established informal dialogue relations in 1973, which
were later formalized in March 1977 with the convening of the ASEAN-Japan
Forum.
Japan is the largest trading partner of ASEAN with a 12.4 percent share of
ASEAN's total trade.
ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
==Kyodo
2010-11-27 00:50:42