The 2nd ASEAN - Japan Economic Ministers' Meeting was held in Tokyo from 27 - 28 June 1985. The Meeting took up international and bilateral issues. The Economic Ministers expressed serious concern over the resurgence of protectionist trends and agreed that renewed and determined efforts must be made at this critical juncture to strengthen a free and open world trading system. In this respect they welcomed the launching of the New Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (NRMTN) and stressed the need to fulfil the past commitments of the Tokyo Round and relevant provisions of the 1982 GATT Work Programme. Agreement has also been reached that the interests of ASEAN and other developing countries be fully taken into account in the new round and that due consideration be given to the improvement of developing countries' access to the developed countries' markets.
On bilateral economic relations, both sides agreed to promote trade, investment and techno- logy transfer. As regards market opening measures, ASEAN requested the Japanese Government to give favourable consideration to ASEAN's request on tariff, non-tariff barriers and to make further efforts to facilitate the access of ASEAN products to the Japanese market.
The year under review witnessed progress in other areas of cooperation. A Japanese study mission was sent to Malaysia in December 1984 to help launch the ASEAN Poultry Disease Research and Training Centre. Japan has agreed to provide technical and other support towards the establishment of this Centre.
In the field of science and technology, an ASEAN - Japan Senior Officials Meeting was held in Jakarta, 11 - 12 December 1984, and agreed on the following three areas of concentration for cooperation :
ii) Micro-electronics and
iii) Material Science
During the year under review Japan also sent seven survey missions to Indonesia and the, Philippines as part of the plant renovation cooperation programme.
Informal consultations were held between ASEAN and Japanese officials on the future of the ASEAN Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism (APC) in Tokyo. The five-year APC Agreement will expire in May 1986. ASEAN lady indicated that it would like Japanese assistance technically and financially, to be reformulated along the basis of either the EEC or Australia() trade promotion programmes, allowing more flexibility in trade promotion activities.
The third meeting of ASEAN - Japan Joint Steering Committee which took place in Tokyo from 28-29 March 1985 witnessed the conclusion of Phase II and the commencement of Phase III of the ASEAN Regional Studies Promotion Programme (ARSPP).
The Study project under Phase II entitled "Effective Mechanisms for the Enhancement of Skills and Technology in ASEAN" involving. five ASEAN country papers, one ASEAN integrated paper and one Japanese paper was completed b ASEAN and Japanese researchers and the publication of the study papers was scheduled to be completed by November 1985.
The second project under Phase II entitled "Industrial Restructuring and Adjustment for Japan - ASEAN Investment and Trade Expansion" was prepared in the form of a conceptual paper on a project proposal. This project proposal is now the major study project for Phase III starting from April 1985.
Under Phase III, a project proposal would also be prepared and it would form the basis for the major project to be undertaken in Phase IV of the Programme. The approved budget for Phase III is US$ 232,000.
An Exchange of Letters between the Japanese Ambassador in Jakarta and the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat whereby the Japanese Government contributed $1 million to the Japanese Scholarship Fund for ASEAN Youth Look place at the ASEAN Secretariat on 14 June 1985.
Under the ASEAN - Japan Friendship Programme into the 21st Century, a total of 748 youths from the ASEAN countries visited Japan from May to October 1984 for a series of exchanges of view with their Japanese counter parts.