The 40th Policy Plenary Meeting on“The Beginning of a New Chapter towards theEstablishment of an ASEAN community”
May 20, 2010
The 40th Policy Plenary Meeting of the Council on East Asian Community (CEAC)
was held on May 20th at the conference room of Japan Forum on International Relations, todiscuss ʺThe Beginning of a New Chapter towards the Establishment of an ASEAN
communityʺ. Amb. KATORI Yoshinori, Director‐General of the Foreign Service Training
Institute and former Ambassador for ASEAN, made a keynote report, which was followedby active exchanges of views among members of the CEAC. The gist of his keynote report
is as follows.
1. A New milestone in the integration process
Important progress towards building an ASEAN community could be observed
during my tenure as Japanʹs first Ambassador for ASEAN from October 2008 to March
2010: (1) The ASEAN Charter entered into force in December 2008. ASEAN has acquired
legal status and further strengthened its institutions. (2) The Committee of Permanent
Representatives (rank of Ambassador) based in Jakarta started its activities in May 2009. Inorder to maintain close contacts with the ASEAN Secretariat as well as the CPR, currently,
33 non‐ASEAN countries have appointed Ambassadors for ASEAN. As for Japan, it has
stationed its Ambassador for ASEAN in Jakarta since April of this year. (3) ASEAN Free
Trade Area (AFTA) has been realized in January this year. (4) The ASEAN agreement on
disaster management and emergency response entered into force last December. (5) The
ASEAN flag as well as the ASEAN anthem launched officially by the ASEAN Charter willcontribute in further strengthening ASEAN identity.
2. Growing importance of East Asian economy
ASEAN is not only recovering from the financial crisis caused by the Lehman shockin 2008, but also further consolidating its economic and financial bases. (1) In March of thisyear, the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) Agreement came into effect. (2)The middle class in East Asia including ASEAN continues to grow. (3) Infrastructuredemand throughout the region is expected to skyrocket in coming years. (4) ASEAN
concluded FTA agreements with all the ʺplus 6ʺ countries and paved the way for stronger
economic interaction with these countries. In light of the growing economic importance ofthe region, US, EU as well as Russia are strengthening their engagement with ASEAN.
ASEAN China economic relations are rapidly developing especially in the Mekong region
which borders the Yunnan and Guangxi Autonomous Region.
3. ASEANʹs priorities
As for ASEANʹs priorities, (1) ASEAN attaches great importance in enhancing
connectivity within ASEAN. ʺCentral to the promotion of ASEAN connectivity is thedevelopment of physical infrastructure, of multimodal transportation and ICT linkages andof supporting legal infrastructure and other necessary softwareʺ. Emphasis is put also on
ʺconnecting of the hearts and minds of ASEAN peoples across the region.ʺ (Statements ofthe 15th ASEAN summit). Also, ASEAN attaches great importance in (2) Developing Asian
Bond Market as well as stimulating demand within ASEAN, (3) Maintaining ASEAN
centrality in an emerging regional architecture, and (4) Strengthening confidence buildingmeasures. In this last point, on top of the important role of the ASEAN Regional Forum(ARF), the initiative of ADMM plus 8 (meeting of defense ministers of ASEAN countries
plus Japan, China, Korea, India, Australia, NZ, USA and Russia) will contribute in further
strengthening the confidence building in this region. (5) Also, in pursuit of active
engagement of ASEAN on global issues, ASEAN attaches great importance for therepresentation of the ASEAN chair in the G20 meeting.
4. Enhancing Japan ASEAN relations
Japan and ASEAN have developed strong economic interdependence throughout
the years. It is important for Japan to continue to expand the economic interaction with
ASEAN. In addition, in order to provide new stimuli in our relations, Japan shouldemphasize concrete areas which can serve as symbols of cooperation. In my view, one
possible area would be increased exchanges of people between Japan and ASEAN. For
example, Japan could take measures to receive the caretakers and nurses from the ASEAN
countries in a smoother and more practical way. To study the possibility for increased
reception of skilled labor from ASEAN would also be useful. Academic and student
exchange should be promoted too. Furthermore, environment protection as well as scienceand technology are certainly promising areas of cooperation. Finally, Japan should
continue to take into account the global aspect of international relations. For example, solid
Japan‐US relations will have a positive impact on Japan ASEAN relations and vice versa. Inthe same context, Japan should continue its effort to further deepen the relations withKorea, China, EU and all other important partners.

In response to the above reports, 16 members of CEAC joined in an active exchangeof views on the topic.