Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN Chiba Akira (Photo: VNA)Jakarta (VNA) – Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN Chiba Akira has spokenhighly of the role of Vietnam as ASEAN Chair in 2020 with the successful organisationof the 37th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings despite of COVID-19.
“Itmust have been tremendously difficult under COVID-19. And we were concerned howit will take place. But Vietnam, through its excellent chairmanship led us to avery good conclusion,” he told Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Jakarta.
He said: “time difference must have been a big task for the Vietnamesegovernment. But all in all, it went very good, very smooth. And exchange ofopinion was very frank.”
“It was a tremendous success,” he said.
He expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese government for the organisation ofthe event, while saying that he believed all participants were satisfied.
He went on “I think especially under COVID-19, this will set a good example toASEAN as a whole.”
Sharing the message Japan reiterated throughout the summits, Ambassador Chibasaid the most important thing is Japan’s support to the ASEAN Outlook onIndo-Pacific (AOIP). The AOIP has many fundamental principles that are shared withJapan's own policy.
He affirmed Japan’s willingness to extend support and help realize the AOIP.
Regarding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement,which was freshly signed by 10 ASEAN countries and five partners, Chiba emphasisedit is a very important instrument for the region to facilitate not only trade,but also issues that will relate to resilience of supply chain.
“RCEP is very important to all of us, of course to Japan. And we look forwardto further implementing trade through RCEP,” he said.
According to the diplomat, RCEP, which will cover almost half the populationand GDP of the entire world, will help Japan sell many products to all the participatingcountries. At the same time, Japan is ready to open market to many ASEAN products,and that will mean good news for Japanese consumers.
Ambassador Chiba said Japan is ready to help ASEAN countries in many aspectssuch as infrastructure building, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that causedeconomic problems for ASEAN countries.
Japan is also ready to fund projects that relate to vulnerable parts of eachcommunity, and plans to continue promoting cooperation programmes in humanresources development, he added.
On Japan-ASEAN cooperation outcomes in 2020, the diplomat said the biggest projectthat Japan has together with ASEAN is the ASEAN Centre for Public HealthEmergencies and Emerging Diseases (AC-PHEED), launched at the Japan-ASEANSummit.
Relating to policies and strategic orientations for the ASEAN-Japan partnershipin the coming time, he underlined the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific issued byASEAN, saying that Japan is very keen on cooperating with ASEAN through itsnewly established AOIP./.
“Itmust have been tremendously difficult under COVID-19. And we were concerned howit will take place. But Vietnam, through its excellent chairmanship led us to avery good conclusion,” he told Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Jakarta.
He said: “time difference must have been a big task for the Vietnamesegovernment. But all in all, it went very good, very smooth. And exchange ofopinion was very frank.”
“It was a tremendous success,” he said.
He expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese government for the organisation ofthe event, while saying that he believed all participants were satisfied.
He went on “I think especially under COVID-19, this will set a good example toASEAN as a whole.”
Sharing the message Japan reiterated throughout the summits, Ambassador Chibasaid the most important thing is Japan’s support to the ASEAN Outlook onIndo-Pacific (AOIP). The AOIP has many fundamental principles that are shared withJapan's own policy.
He affirmed Japan’s willingness to extend support and help realize the AOIP.
Regarding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement,which was freshly signed by 10 ASEAN countries and five partners, Chiba emphasisedit is a very important instrument for the region to facilitate not only trade,but also issues that will relate to resilience of supply chain.
“RCEP is very important to all of us, of course to Japan. And we look forwardto further implementing trade through RCEP,” he said.
According to the diplomat, RCEP, which will cover almost half the populationand GDP of the entire world, will help Japan sell many products to all the participatingcountries. At the same time, Japan is ready to open market to many ASEAN products,and that will mean good news for Japanese consumers.
Ambassador Chiba said Japan is ready to help ASEAN countries in many aspectssuch as infrastructure building, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that causedeconomic problems for ASEAN countries.
Japan is also ready to fund projects that relate to vulnerable parts of eachcommunity, and plans to continue promoting cooperation programmes in humanresources development, he added.
On Japan-ASEAN cooperation outcomes in 2020, the diplomat said the biggest projectthat Japan has together with ASEAN is the ASEAN Centre for Public HealthEmergencies and Emerging Diseases (AC-PHEED), launched at the Japan-ASEANSummit.
Relating to policies and strategic orientations for the ASEAN-Japan partnershipin the coming time, he underlined the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific issued byASEAN, saying that Japan is very keen on cooperating with ASEAN through itsnewly established AOIP./.
VNA
