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Joint Press Release of the Eighth ASEAN-Japan Forum
Tokyo, 23-24 July 1986 |
1. The Eighth Meeting of the Japan - ASEAN Forum was held in Tokyo, Japan, on 23 - 24 July 1986.
The Meeting was attended by the Director-General of Asian Affairs Bureau, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Director-General, ASEAN-Brunei Darussalam, Director-General, ASEAN-Indonesia, Director-General, ASEAN-Malaysia, Deputy Director-General, ASEAN-Philippines, Director-General, ASEAN-Singapore, Director-General, ASEAN-Thailand and their respective delegations.
The Secretary General of ASEAN Secretariat, the Chairmen of COTAC and COTT and a representative of COFAB ,ere present.
2. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan extended in his message his heartfelt congratulations on the opening of the Meeting.
3. Mr. Kimio Fujita, Director-General, Asian Affairs-Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, was the leader of the Japanese Delegation. The ASEAN Delegations were led by Ambassador Abdullah Zawawi Haji Mohamed, Director-General, ASEAN-Malaysia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
4. Mr. Kimio Fujita expressed his heartfelt welcome to the ASEAN Delegations and stated that he was pleased with the fact that numerous efforts had been made to develop closer cooperative relations between Japan and ASEAN. Furthermore, referring to the speech delivered by furthermore Foreign Minister Abe in Manila on Japans policy towards Asia, Mr. Fujita said that there had never been greater need than any time before for Japan and ASEAN countries to work together and to filly promote their creative partnership in order to overcome the confronting difficulties.
5. The Meeting discussed a wide range of subjects covering International Economic situations, Trade and Primary Commodities, Investment, Economic Cooperation, Cultural Cooperation and so forth.
6. The Meeting recognized that the world economy continues to face difficulties which have been particularly burdensome to developing countries including ASEAN countries. It considered the problems within the context of ASEAN-Japan economic relations including sluggishness of trade and investment flows between two sides. in view of the recent dramatic appreciation of the yen, the meeting agreed that opportunities exist for further improvement on ASEAN-Japan economic relations by means of increasing the flow of Japanese investment to ASEAN, increasing more ASEAN exports to Japan, and encouraging more tourists from Japan to ASEAN countries.
7. The ASEAN side expressed that much more could be done for further market opening measures in Japan such as an improvement of Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), lowering of tariffs and expansion of import Quotas, and the need for Japan to take into account of ASEANs export interests in formulating her future market opening measures.
8. The Japanese side explained that a steady implementation of the Action Programme would be further pursued including the improvement of GSP.
9. Both sides noted the importance of launching a New Round of MTN at the GATT Ministerial Meeting in September 1986 and stated that they would continue their efforts toward achieving this objective.
10. The Meeting recognized that the sharp decline of commodity prices continues to be a source of great difficulty to ASEAN and other developing countries. The two sides reiterated their willingness to address themselves positively to seek solutions to these problems.
11. The Meeting expressed the view that Japanese investment in ASEAN countries is of a vital importance to economic development in the region. In the light of the sluggish trend in ASEANs relative share of japans direct overseas investment, both sides shared the view that they would cooperate to create an environment conducive to increasing the flow of investment from Japan to the ASEAN countries. In this connection, Japan stressed that a further government-business coordination should be explored, and proposed to consider convening of a symposium, where experts from government and private sectors from both Japan and ASEAN countries could share the expertise on ho, to promote investment and transfer of technology.
12. The ASEAN side agreed in principle to the convening of the symposium and waits for detailed plan to be submitted by Japan,.
13. The Meeting expressed satisfaction that economic and technical cooperation between ASEAN and Japan had been carried out smoothly and effectively. it expressed the hope that the possibilities of cooperation in such fields as agricultural development, energy development, and industrial plant renovation would further be explored. With regard to the new project proposals presented by the ASEAN side in transportation, industry, forestry, finance and health, the Japanese side expressed initial positive response.
14. The Meeting noted with particular satisfaction that ASEAN Human Resources Development Project had been making smooth and significant progress.
15. The Meeting took note of important develop- ments in cooperation in the field of science and technology and expressed the view that there were good prospect for stepping up cooperation in this area.
16. The Meeting reaffirmed the usefulness of cultural exchange programmes carried out under the ASEAN Cultural Fund and also the Japan Scholarship for ASEAN Youth.
17. The Meeting noted with special satisfaction that the Friendship Programme for the 21st Century had been effective in promoting people-to-people level contact and understanding between ASEAN and Japan.
18. The Ninth Meeting of the Japan-ASEAN Forum dl be held in some ASEAN city in 1987 at a date to be mutually agreed upon..
19. The Delegations from Malaysia,Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand expressed their appreciation to the Government of Japan for hosting the Eighth Meeting of the Japan-ASEAN Forum and for the hospitality accorded to them.
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