Vietnamese Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The said, as a traditional partnerof ASEAN, Japan has become the 4th largest trade partner of ASEAN,and the 2nd biggest investor in the bloc. Meanwhile, the East Asiancountry is a strategic partner and leading ODA provider for the bloc’s membercountries.
In the field of transport, Japan has accompanied the ASEAN states tocomprehensively develop transport infrastructure in the region as well assupported the bloc to implement the Kuala Lumpur Transport Strategic Plan(ASEAN Transport Strategic Plan) 2016-2025, he highlighted.
Meanwhile, Japanese State Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism Nobuhide Minorikawa affirmed assistance to and cooperation with ASEANto boost transport infrastructure development.
Speaking highly of the extensive cooperation between the two sides, he saidJapan stands ready to work with ASEAN to develop transport infrastructure in asustainable manner.
Japan wants to make contributions to promoting regional connectivity by sharinghigh-quality infrastructure facilities with ASEAN, where strong economic growthis affecting demand for transport infrastructure, he stressed.
Mentioning challenges in ASEAN during the transport facility developmentprocess, he believed that each country is facing many issues such as trafficaccidents and air pollution.
Japan also has considerable experience in improving access to transportinfrastructure for the elderly and people with disability, and the country iswilling to help ASEAN in the field, he added.
At the event, the transport ministers listened to reports updating theimplementation of the cooperative projects and initiatives between ASEAN andJapan during 2019-2020, as well as discussed and adopted new initiatives intheir cooperative framework.
One of the key outcomes of the meeting was the adoption of the ASEAN Green ShipStrategy, which aims to encourage the use of environmentally-friendly shipswithin the bloc./.