| Outline of Discussions
The Global Forum of Japan (GFJ) and ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS), in cooperation with The Yomiuri Shimbun and ASEAN Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism, co-sponsored the 6th Japan-ASEAN Dialogue on the theme of “The Challenges Facing Japan and ASEAN in the New Era” on July 18-19, 2007 in Tokyo. As this year is the 40th Founding Anniversary of ASEAN, the Dialogue was attended by 109 participants, including 12 participants from ASEAN countries. An outline of the discussions follows: The ASEAN Community and Future of Japan-ASEAN Relationship Session I, the theme of which was “The ASEAN Community and Future of the Japan-ASEAN Relationship,” started with a keynote speech by Dr. SOEUNG Rathchavy, Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN Secretariat, in which she stated that “ASEAN is now focusing its efforts on building an ASEAN Community by 2015. The Secretariat of ASEAN is now in the process of drafting the ASEAN Charter. The first draft Charter will be submitted to the 13th ASEAN Summit in November 2007 in Singapore. Following that, Prof. KINOSHITA Toshihiko, Visiting Professor at Waseda University, said in a second keynote speech, “The big economic problems centered on ASEAN are global imbalance (in terms of balance-of-payments) and the distorted positioning of ‘money.’ This problem is too big for ASEAN and Japan to solve. The key to the solution is largely held by the U.S. and China. We might well seriously discuss how to realize an Asian Common Monetary Unit (ACMU).” The Japan-ASEAN Cooperation in Energy and Environment Issues In Session II on the theme of “The Japan-ASEAN Cooperation in Energy and Environment Issues,” Mr. OHKI Hiroshi, President of The Japan Center for Climate Change Actions, gave the first keynote speech. He stated that “The energy circumstances of ASEAN countries are so diverse that Japan should consider bilateral cooperation with each ASEAN country separately from cooperation with ASEAN as a whole. It is also necessary to observe the trends of major players such as Russia, the U.S. and China.” After that, Prof. Simon TAY, Chairman of The Singapore Institute of International Affairs, presented a second keynote speech, mentioning that “There is an interlocking triangle of issues – economic growth, energy and climate change. The challenges that arise from climate change can also, and will need to be, seen through the prism of ‘security.’ Climate change can trigger political tensions and conflicts, but we need to seek cooperation, not negative competition” The Japan-ASEAN Strategic Partnership in Political Fields In Session III on the theme of “The Japan-ASEAN Strategic Partnership in Political Fields,” Dr. Rizal SUKMA, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated in his keynote speech that “Power shift has been characterized by the presence of both cooperative and competitive patterns of relationship among the four major powers: U.S., China, Japan and India. The challenge here is how to make sure that the cooperative element would prevail over the competitive one.” Subsequently, Prof. ITO Kenichi, President of the Global Forum of Japan, presented his keynote speech, stating that “There seem to have been two major turning points in the 40-year history of ASEAN: (1) the accession of the three Indochinese countries, thereby creating the present ‘ASEAN 10’ framework, and (2) the formation of ASEAN plus three in dealing with the outbreak of economic crisis in 1997. Japan, at both of those turning points, gave its full support and assistance to the choices ASEAN made. The third major turning point in the Japan-ASEAN relationship is now emerging. At this turning point, Japan and ASEAN are truly working together on an equal footing. I would like to pay attention to this fact.” Summarization by Co-chairpersons Chairpersons of each session summarized the discussion as follows: the first session, “It is interesting that the participants from ASEAN have stressed the political will for integration” (Mr. NISHIHARA Masashi, President of Research Institute for Peace and Security); the second session, “A matter of great urgency for ASEAN is the improvement of energy efficiency and the development of recyclable energy” (Mrs. Malayvieng SAKONHNINHOM, Acting Director-General of Institute of Foreign Affaires); and the third session, “The interests of the central government is conflicting with those of the local governments in China. China should not be judged as a whole” (Prof. AMAKO Satoshi, Professor of Waseda University). In the Final Wrap-Up Session, Prof. SHINDO Eiichi, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tsukuba, summarized the discussions of the day, stating that “The creation of mutual trust will be most important in the process of community building in East Asia,” while Dato’Seri Mohamed JAWHAR Hassan, Chairman and CEO of The Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, added that “Hereafter, ‘Human Development’ will be the most important issue, and Japan is capable of playing an important role regarding this issue.”
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