The 12th Meeting of the ASEAN-Japan Forum was held in Tokyo, Japan on 19-20, September 1990.

The Meeting was attended by Mr. Sakutaro Tanino, Director-General of the Asian Affairs Bureau, Japan; Mr. Hj. Yusof bin Hj. Abdul Hamid, Director-General, ASEAN-Brunei Darussalam; Mr. Agus Tarmidzi, Director-General, ASEAN-Indonesia; Dato Ajit Singh, Director-General, ASEAN-Malaysia; Mrs. Solita M. Aguirre, Acting Director-General, ASEAN-Philippines, Mr. K. Kesavapany, Director- General, ASEAN-Singapore and H.E. M.L. Bira bhongse Kasbmsri, Ambassador of Thailand to Japan and their respective delegations. Dr. Chng Meng Kng, Deputy Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat, and a member of his staff together with the chairmen of COTT and COCI and the representatives of COTAC, COFAF and COFAB were also present.

Mr. S. Tanino, Director-General, Asian Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, led the .Japanese delegation. Mrs. Solita M. Aguirre, Acting Director-General, ASEAN-Philippines and representing the country coordinator of the ASEAN Japan Dialogue, led the ASEAN delegations. Mr. Tanino and Mrs. Aguirre co-chaired the 12th Forum meeting.

Mr. lchiji Ishii, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, formally opened and delivered a Welcome Speech at the 12th ASEAN Japan Forum.

In his Welcome Speech, Mr. Ishii expressed his heartfelt welcome to the ASEAN delegations and stated that the ASEAN-Japan Forum has played an important role in promoting a close and friendly relationship between Japan and ASEAN and thereby contributing to the solution of many issues of bilateral, regional and global nature.

In his statement on the review of ASEAN - Japan relations, Mr. Tanino stated that stimulating discussions on the security issues in the Asia-Pacific region at the Post-Ministerial Conference in Jakarta last July clearly showed how mature the relationship between ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners had become. He also stressed that through their development in the last two decades, ASEAN countries had attracted world attention as the most dynamic group of nations in the Asia-Pacific region and had been highly respected for their great contribution to the peace and stability of Asia as well as of the whole world.

As regards economic issues, he expressed his satisfaction that the recent dramatic increase of trade, investment and others between Japan and ASEAN proved it as appropriateness of the policies on trade and industry and a structural adjustment.

As regards economic cooperation, he regretted that because of insufficient understanding of each others' policies and system, many existing cooperation schemes had not been fully utilized.

He also touched upon the Japan-ASEAN Cultural Symposium to be held at the beginning of next year in commemoration of the first anniversary of ASEAN Cultural Center in Tokyo. In addition, he made clear willingness of the Japanese Government to initiate and step up cooperative relations in new fields such as the global environment.

In her opening statement, Mrs. Aguirre said that the time was ripe for ASEAN and Japan to inject fresh ideas and new thinking in the conduct of ASEAN-Japan relations, and that ASEAN highly appreciated the convening of the Trade Experts Meeting and the involvement of private sector in the Forum.

As regards trade issues, she expressed the concern on continuing imbalance in the ASEAN Japan trade structure, while urging Japan to import more manufactured and semi manufactured products from ASEAN.

As regards other areas of cooperation, she highlighted, ASEAN priorities, including the importance of social development and science and technology, and urged Japan's assistance for the Social Development Fund and the Science Fund.

The Meeting reviewed developments during the past year in ASEAN-Japan relations and ASEAN noted with appreciation various contributions of Japan along with its International Cooperation Initiative.

The Meeting also reviewed wide-ranging topics of mutual interest to ASEAN and Japan, including the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, trade and commodities, investment and industrial cooperation and development and cultural cooperation.

In the discussions on the Uruguay Round, the Meeting agreed that a successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round by the end of this year was of utmost importance for the future trade environment of the world. ASEAN urged Japan to support ASEAN's positions and to meet its requests in such negotiation fields as textile and clothing, agriculture, tropical product and new areas.

Japan reiterated its resolve to contribute, in close cooperation with ASEAN countries, to the success of the Round.

For the first time, representatives of the ASEAN-Japan Economic Council (AJEC) participated in this Forum according to the agreement at the last Forum in Manila. Mr. Masami Ishii, Vice Chairman of the Japan Section, and Mr. Rufu Colayco, Chairman of the ASEAN Section made their respective reports to the Forum, in which they manifested the private sectors' high expectation and demand for the governments. The Meeting .appreciated the valuable suggestions in their reports and stressed the importance of closer collaboration between government and private sectors.

The Meeting took note of the report of Trade Experts Meeting, which was held for the first, time between ASEAN and Japan, in order to deepen their mutual understanding by frank exchange of views on trade and trade-related measures.

Both ASEAN and Japan reiterated the importance of sustainable development of tropical forest based on the active participation of both developed and developing countries concerned, taking fully into account the need for technical and financial assistance for the developing countries in upgrading their tropical forest management and development.

Japan expressed its view that the increased direct investment by Japanese private firms in the ASEAN countries had contributed to the development of their economy and close economic relations among them.

ASEAN proposed to japan specific projects which would further promote technology transfer from Japan to ASEAN and direct investment in the ASEAN region.

On, financial cooperation, ASEAN expressed concern over the effects of the appreciation of the Yen, especially in the light of the recent development, and stressed the need for full implementation of the ASEAN-Japan Development Fund (AJDF) in order that it could be fully effected in the ASEAN region.

ASEAN and Japan deliberated on various aspects of development cooperation, and ASEAN reiterated the hope that Japan should be more flexible in considering ASEAN project proposals for funding.

The delegates from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand expressed their appreciation to the Government of Japan for hosting the 12th Meeting of ASEAN-Japan Forum and for the hospitality extended to them.

The 13th Meeting of the ASEAN-Japan Forum would be held in Singapore in 1991 at a date to be mutually agreed upon.