Joint Statement of the 36th ASEAN-Japan Business Meeting
The 36tht ASEAN-Japan Business Meeting
6-8 October, Tokyo
The 36th ASEAN-Japan Business Meeting (AJBM) held in Tokyo on 6-8 October, 2010 adopted this joint statement emphasizing the need for Japan and ASEAN countries to play a significant role as a hub of economic partnership agreements in the Asia-Pacific region. We should further strengthen and develop our relationship to realize a more open and freer market centered around Japan and ASEAN countries in the Asia-Pacific region so that all the people living in the region can enjoy affluence. We call for concrete actions by relevant actors ? both in the public and private sectors - in Japan and ASEAN countries.
■ The 2004 Joint Statement urged an early conclusion of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP), which was finally accomplished in 2009. For those years, while affected by the global financial crisis in 2008, the Asian region with fast-growing China and India included has been expected, despite potential risks, to serve the function of leading the world economy as its growth center and market.
■ From a medium- and long-term perspective, strategic use of the FTA network, which was built by the initiative of ASEAN countries, will be more important for both Japan and ASEAN countries. On the other hand, ASEAN countries will enhance their presence in the international economy, but may also be exposed to fierce international competition for the status as the world production center. It is conceivable as well that necessity will arise to deal with constraints on economic growth such as environmental issues, economic disparity, and insufficient economic/institutional infrastructures; so, Japan and ASEAN countries need to establish diversified, multilayered relationships.
■ The Asia-Pacific region is currently seeing acceleration of bilateral/multilateral economic partnership/integration including AJCEP, CER (the Closer Economic Relations Agreement between New Zealand and Australia), China, India, South Korea, the USA, and the EU entering into FTAs and new proposals such as TPPA have also appeared. Without strengthening AJCEP to be a truly comprehensive and effective partnership agreement, the ASEAN-Japan economic relationship cannot derive mutual benefits and could even weaken as competition intensifies.
Therefore, Japan and ASEAN countries should review and pursue the talks toward liberalization of investment and trade in services which have shown no sign of substantial progress so far. In particular, Japan ought to consider favorable expectations and requests of ASEAN countries and address positively, as a top priority, the issues of (1) market access for agricultural products and (2) free movement of labor and professionals that were considered before. The Japanese government must not adopt a policy that would harm its own national interests by disproportionately prioritizing a particular domestic interest. The policy of Japanese market liberalization ought to be strongly promoted by future-oriented Japanese political leadership.
As planned, the ASEAN Economic Community will be established by 2015. It is expected that this will provide a more coherent and effective regional management system for the EPAs/FTAs in the areas of trade procedures such as rules of origin and customs clearance and a good structural base for fair competition including protection of intellectual property.
Since there are various frameworks for economic partnership/integration in the Asia-Pacific region, it follows that Japan and ASEAN countries should further strengthen and solidify our mutual ties to a new stage based on our mutual trust developed over many years. Japan and ASEAN countries should cooperate in deepening the AJCEP to establish a partnering, reciprocal, free system for exchanging goods, funds/capital, human resources, and information so that the AJCEP can function realistically as the hub of the multi-tiered economic networks in the Asia-Pacific region, which should be supported by appropriate government validation studies and measures.
■ The future economic growth of Japan and ASEAN countries would be affected by global warming, diseases, natural disasters, and other such problems, which require multinational or global cooperation to mitigate. Japan and ASEAN countries should expand the scope of cooperation into reduction of these constraints on economic and social development, in addition to improving infrastructure indispensable for promoting the liberalization of trade and investment. It is especially important to learn Japanese know-how in environmental technology, natural disaster control, and water and food security. In the above fields, Japan and ASEAN countries have to make their best effort to achieve concrete results, and will be expected to spread the results to the world to bring stability and security to people, and to contribute further to the prosperity of the world economy.
■ Business leaders are at the forefront of economic activities with the strong awareness that daily activities carried out by us are directly linked with affluence and the living stability of the people in each country and the Asian region as a whole. As business leaders, we shall also strengthen partnerships to a greater extent with the public sector and communities.