Japan and ASEAN vow to bolster Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and invest $35 billion for Sustainable Development

DNHN - "Based on the trust between Japan and ASEAN, we will collaborate more closely than ever to create a prosperous and sustainable future together," Japanese Prime Minister Kishida declared.

Over the next five years, Prime Minister Kishida aims to invest $35 billion (4.9 trillion yen) in the ASEAN area to help efforts to address climate change and other issues. At the joint news conference, Kishida declared, "Japan will stand with ASEAN, which plays a pivotal role in realising a free and open Indo-Pacific amid deepening divisions and confrontations."

The joint declaration of the conference called for collaboration in the energy sector, supply chain strengthening, and investments in high-quality infrastructure. The leaders also committed to fostering coordination in the domains of cybersecurity, misinformation control, and maritime security, as well as creating a new framework for collaboration on electric and next-generation cars.

The prime minister of Japan also announced his plan to actively utilise Official Development Assistance (ODA), a programme that equips the militaries of countries that share Japan's vision with defence hardware and other support.

A comprehensive programme involving over 10 million people over the next ten years is planned in the area of people-to-people contacts, with funding of up to 40 billion yen coming from Japan. Additionally, the Tokyo government promised to contribute 15 billion yen over the following five years to a project that will fund other studies and worldwide cooperative research.

"We will cooperate more closely than ever before to build a prosperous and sustainable future together, based on the trust between Japan and ASEAN," Kishida, the prime minister, said.

The Japan-ASEAN summit takes place when Japan is expanding its ties with developing nations, commonly referred to as the "Global South," which includes ASEAN members. Japan views the alliance as strategically significant, particularly in light of the bloc's advantageous location astride one of the most significant maritime channels in the world—the South China Sea.

The Japan-ASEAN summit came to an end before a separate gathering of the ten ASEAN leaders—among them Japan and Australia—that was slated to occur on December 18 as part of the East Asia Summit and centre on decarbonisation.

Thanh Ha