ANTARA NEWS



 

Japan will take the lead in supporting the mainstreaming of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) to create peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa stressed on Monday.

Speaking at the "Commemorative Symposium for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation” in Jakarta, the minister said that Japan will promote three pillars to support AOIP's mainstreaming.

First, Japan will push concrete cooperation projects, in line with the four priority areas of the AOIP, namely maritime cooperation, connectivity, sustainable development goals (SDGs), as well as economic and other possible areas of cooperation.

"We will work with ASEAN to identify specific projects to be announced at the commemorative summit," Yoshimasa informed via video conferencing, referring to the summit that is expected to be held in Tokyo in December this year to mark the 50th year of ASEAN-Japan partnership.

Second, Japan will support several activities and functions of the ASEAN Secretariat for the promotion and mainstreaming of the AOIP by providing technical assistance to enhance the Secretariat’s capacity.

Third, Japan is ready to support the human resource development of young government officials in ASEAN countries and is also deliberating on starting new programs to provide training, he said.

In addition to ASEAN's AOIP, Japan has also launched the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). Both initiatives are based on similar principles, such as openness, transparency, inclusiveness, and respect for international law.

Japan was the first among ASEAN's dialogue partners to have issued a joint statement on cooperation on AOIP with ASEAN in 2020.

The statement emphasized that both AOIP and FOIP share relevant fundamental principles on promoting peace and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

The principles adopted by AOIP and FOIP are also aligned in prioritizing openness, transparency, inclusiveness, and respect for international law.

"Those are important ideas in this new era and close cooperation between Japan and ASEAN based on these principles is becoming increasingly important," Yoshimasa noted.

In order to contribute to the maintenance and strengthening of a free and open international order based on the rule of law, AOIP must be mainstreamed as part of the cooperation between ASEAN and all external partners. Such cooperation should be in line with the principles areas of AOIP, he added. (INE)