Provisional Translation
42nd ASEAN-Japan Business Meeting (AJBM)
Date
Venue
Theme

: Monday 10 October - Wednesday 12 October 2016
: Sapporo Park Hotel, Hokkaido, Japan: Strengthen ties between ASEAN and Japan, by vitalizing local
economy of ASEAN and Japan
Meeting Summary

1. Opening Ceremony
 Event Open : Dr. Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, Chairman, Keizai Doyukai
 The world is hitting a major tipping point. As the global integration of economies is
accelerating, politics in Europe and the U.S. are being affected by public outrage
about the adverse effects of globalization, including income disparity and the rapid
increase in immigrants. The effects of public outrage emerged as Brexit in the U.K.
and the Trump phenomena in the U.S. presidential election.
 In this environment, management in the ASEAN region and Japan are responsiblefor deepening economic integration in Asia, which has been steadily making
progress.
Welcoming Remarks : Mr. Ryuzo Yokouchi, Chairman, Hokkaido Keizai

Doyukai Given the global economic slowdown, there are signs of protectionism in Europe
and the U.S. Against this backdrop, it is very important that management in the
ASEAN region and in Japan should deepen mutual understanding and promoteinternational exchange.
Special Remarks by Guest of Honour: Mr. Yasuhiro Tsuji, Vice Governor of
Hokkaido Prefecture We aim for “Hokkaido shining in the world.” We are promoting initiatives in avariety of fields, including tourism, food and human resources, making the most of
Hokkaido’s four seasons as well as the characteristics and specialties in different
regions.

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2. Plenary Session 1
Mr. Koichi Kawana, 42nd AJBM Co-Chairman, chaired Plenary Session I. In the first
half, three lecturers delivered keynote speeches. In the second half, a panel
discussion was held, where four panelists and a moderator participated.
(1) First Half: Presentation
 Dr. Fukunari Kimura, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Keio University /Chief Economist of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia
 The ASEAN region has achieved economic growth based on the Global Value
Chain (GVC) built into the manufacturing industry. This is a model unique to the
ASEAN region, unseen in other regions in the world. Moreover, no other regions
or emerging economies have been able to achieve this model, which is very
important to ASEAN.
 Each ASEAN member state needs to promote their industry in accordance with
their stage of development for the concentration of industry and innovations tobuild stronger relationships with the GVC. To that end, it is important for them toincrease their research and development level and attract outstanding humanresources from abroad.
 For Japan, it is important to address challenges on the supply side, especially
issues related to the labor force. Japan should consider accepting foreign workers.
the ASEAN countries and Japan can strengthen their cooperation, taking thesechallenges into consideration.
 Ms. Chian Voen Wong, Director, Mayer Brown Consulting The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which was established at the end of
2015, has four goals: (i) a single market and production base, (ii) a highly
competitive economic region, (iii) a region of equitable economic developmentand (iv) a region fully integrated into the global economy. There are a number ofchallenges that remain to be addressed in relation to the establishment of a single
market and production base, the most important goal.
 ASEAN has formulated AEC 2025, the goal of the AEC for the next 10 years, inwhich facilitating trade to promote economic integration is an important item. For
the ASEAN economy including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) topromote its integration into the GVC and to maintain its position as a production
base, an environment facilitating a free trans-border flow of goods, investments
and services is important. ASEAN has already been taking steps to improve theenvironment, both tangible and intangible.

2 Mr. Yoshiaki Nakamara, President, Japan Inbound Solutions Co., Ltd.
 According to government statistics in 2014, two million people visited Japan fromASEAN countries, and that number is only half the number of Japanese who
visited the ASEAN countries, four million. In 10 years, the number of travelers
from ASEAN countries to Japan is expected to become about the same as thenumber of those from Japan to ASEAN countries, which will create new business
opportunities for Japan.
 There are three important factors for Japan in building sustainable relationships
with ASEAN countries through inbound tourism: marketing using social
networking services, utilizing the sharing economy and promoting electronic
settlement using credit cards and electronic money.
 For revitalizing local communities using tourism, it is important to promotesustainable tourism, while protecting the living environment of local residents.
(2) Second Half : Panel discussion
Panelist: Dr. Fukunari Kimura, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Keio University /Chief Economist of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia Ms. Chian Voen Wong, Director, Mayer Brown Consulting
 Mr. Yoshiaki Nakamara, President, Japan Inbound Solutions Co., Ltd.
 Tan Sri Dr. Michael O.K. Yeoh, Co-Founder and CEO, The Asian Strategy &Leadership Institute
Moderator:
 Dr. Yoshinori Fujikawa, Associate Professor, International Business
Strategy, Hitotsubashi University
Following the keynote speeches in the first half, a panel discussion was held todiscuss possibilities for collaboration and the strengthening of relationships between
ASEAN nations and Japan in three fields: tourism, food and regional resources. Fourpanelists, including the three speakers that delivered the keynote speeches and amoderator participated in the discussion.
The four panelists vigorously exchanged views regarding the importance of improving
multifaceted connectivity in the ASEAN region and expectations of Japan’s
cooperation, institutional harmony for the movement of people, the cross-border useof human resources, and possibilities for developing points of contact between
provincial cities, SMEs and overseas countries.
Based on the exchange of views, Dr. Yoshinori Fujikawa, Associate Professor,
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International Business Strategy, Hitotsubashi University, the moderator, pointed outthat not only urban areas and large companies, but also rural districts and SMEs are
exposed to globalization. He concluded the discussion, saying, “For deepening therelationship between ASEAN and Japan, cross-border cooperation between provincial
communities and SMEs is becoming more and more important. Expanding discussion
from such a viewpoint at this meeting is timely.”
3. Luncheon
PhD. Ryusuke Hatano, Professor, Hokkaido University described a program that
Hokkaido University is implementing jointly with six universities in Indonesia andThailand, the Populations-Activities-Resources-Environments Program. It is intended
to cultivate human resources working on the frontier for reversing the vicious cycle
resulting from causes related to populations, activities, resources, and environments.
Following his explanation, students from Indonesia, Thailand and Japan who
participated in the program presented the results of their efforts in addressing such
issues as the improvement of food and nutrition, the improvement of the imbalance
between urban and rural areas, the proper use of fossil resources and the monitoringand improving of environmental issues.
4. Plenary Session 2
Plenary Session II was chaired by Mr. Shinya Katanozaka, 42nd AJBM Co-Chairman.
Three speakers described the distinctive initiatives in Hokkaido in the fields of tourism,
food and regional resources.
 Mr. Hiroshi Yoshikawa, Japan Shopping Tourism Organization
 We are promoting Shopping Tourism to get foreign tourists to deepen theirunderstanding of Japan through shopping at their travel destinations.
 We promote tourism to tap into the consumption of foreign tourists. Shopping andeating meals are major incentives on which they spend money. It is important to
attract strong purchasing power from overseas and use it to revitalize the regional
economy.
 We hope that foreign tourists will see local culture and lifestyles and take homememories and specialties unique to the area of their visit as souvenirs or gifts.
Hokkaido has plenty of appealing foods found in cold climates. We hope that
tourists will find enjoyment in eating those foods, taking them home, and ordering
them from abroad.

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Mr. Makoto Mitsui, Executive Director, Office of Food Industry promotion,

Department of Economic Affairs, Hokkaido Government
 Hokkaido has an ambitious target of exporting 100 billion yen’s worth of foodannually by FY2018. To expand exports in the long term, it is important toestablish the Hokkaido brand among young foreigners. To that end, we are
executing the COOL HOKKAIDO project, using TV programs and SNS.
 Through this project, we have been shocked to learn that things in Hokkaido that
we take for granted are appealing to foreigners. We have learned that it isimportant to sell what foreigners want to buy instead of selling what we want tosell.
 It is difficult for Hokkaido to enter the ASEAN market by itself. We need assistancefrom ASEAN. We would like to cooperate with ASEAN from the planning stage
and to sell products and tourist services in the global market that ASEAN and
Hokkaido will develop together.
 Mr. Hiroyuki Itoh, CEO, Crypton Future Media, Inc HATSUNE MIKU is a 16-year-old girl who sings well. She does not exist in the realworld. She is software we have developed that synthesizes a singing voice. We
can make her sing on a real stage in a concert using 3D computer graphics
technology.
 HATSUNE MIKU is popular in the ASEAN region too. The tickets for her concert
held in Singapore in 2011 were sold out. Jakarta was chosen as the venue of
MIKU EXPO, HATSUNE MIKU’s world tour, by fans worldwide. More than 10,000
young people attended the event.
 We have created SNOW MIKU, the snow version of HATSUNE MIKU, tocontribute to Hokkaido. We are sure that SNOW MIKU will become popular in the
ASEAN region. We would like to commercialize SNOW MIKU in cooperation withpeople in the ASEAN region.
5. Roundtable Discussions in Parallel
Based on the comprehensive discussion at the Plenary Sessions, the participants split
up into three roundtable meetings: Roundtable 1: Tourism, Roundtable 2: Food andRoundtable 3: Regional Resources. At each meeting, participants exchanged theirviews in smaller groups.

5(1) Roundtable 1: Tourism
 Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand The Tourism Authority of Thailand believes that tourists from Japan wanthigh-quality services. To respond to the demand from Japanese people, it isexecuting programs to attract Japanese tourists under a number of themes,
including medical care and health, sports, students and women.
 The Thai tourism industry has two challenges. One is to make Thailand a bridge
between Japan and the ASEAN region, a regional hub in the tourism industry. In
this way, Thailand would like to contribute to increasing opportunities in the entire
ASEAN region. The other challenge is linking tourists in the country to thedevelopment of the Thai economy. We would like to increase the competitivenessof the Thai tourism industry to transfer wealth from urban areas to rural areas.
Prof. Rokhmin Dahuri, Chairman & Economic Advisor on behalf on Rulingparty -PDIP Indonesia, for Maritime Affairs / Senior Advisor, PT JSB (Jiva
Samudera Biru) Indonesia
 The Indonesian government has set seven priority fields in its development policy,
and tourism is one of them. The government has developed a plan to increase thenumber of foreign tourists from 9 million at present to 20 million by 2019.
Specifically, the government has established ten special tourism zones and isdeveloping infrastructures there, including airports, stations and ports.
 Mr. Ross Findlay, Representative director, NAC (Niseko Adventure Center) As the Japanese economy declined in the 1990s, the number of ski tourists fell in
the Niseko area in Hokkaido, and owners of pensions and hotels faced
challenging situations. We proposed introducing rafting as a measure to attract
tourists in summer. The introduction of rafting was followed by the launch of otherbusinesses. At present, Niseko has tourists throughout the year.
 Niseko has become a resort town where tourists remain for extended stays, which
has affected not only hotel operators but also all residents. Residents’ income has
increased, and they have become more interested in foreign countries. They havecome to consider new businesses targeting affluent foreign tourists. The local
economy has entered a virtuous circle.
 The challenges of Niseko are a lack of future vision for the entire town and an
insufficient number of Japanese who speak English.

6 Mr. Ven Nishimura, Chairman, Prime Travel & Tour Pte. Ltd.
 We are promoting driving trips in Hokkaido for foreign tourists. Finding the resolveto accept losses with the launch of the business, we prepared cars to rent andcharter flights and invited 162 tourists from Singapore to Hokkaido. They traveledaround Hokkaido for eight days, using 50 rental cars. We arranged three or four
similar trips every year. As a result of those efforts, our business has expanded.
Now, we are providing 270,000 rental cars annually for driving trips in Hokkaido.
 Among ASEAN countries, Japan is the most popular travel destination, and thenumber of tourists to Japan has been increasing. A Japan boom has occurred not
only in ASEAN countries but also all over the world. Japan needs to prepare toaccept foreign tourists.
 Mr. Yoshiaki Nakamara, President, Japan Inbound Solutions Co., Ltd.
 The population will continue to increase in Asia. However, in 15 to 20 years,
Asian countries will have aging populations and will become like Japan. Insteadof becoming panicked at that time, we need to join with other Asian countries instudying how to deal with the aging population now.
 Asia’s tourism market is expected to continue growing for a few decades. Japanneeds to take steps to tap into the growth. Two-way tourism between Japan andAsia, instead of one-way, will be necessary.
(2) Roundtable 2: Food Mr. Yuichi Narita, President & CEO, NIPPON ACCESS HOKKAIDO Inc.
 Hokkaido plans to increase food exports to 100 billion yen in 2018. The main
purpose of the plan is developing the agriculture and fishery industries and thefood-processing industry, the mainstay industries of the region, and building astrong regional economy. We will achieve this by developing sales channels toreach overseas markets, tapping into the dynamism of growing markets overseas.
 Our challenge for increasing exports of foods produced in Hokkaido is to make
Hokkaido products popular in overseas markets and expand the supply toretailers by getting rapidly increasing inbound tourists to recognize the products.
To overcome this challenge, the use of e-commerce and regular flight service isimportant.
 Mr. Abdul Kadir, Director, PT TRIPINDO PATRIA Japan has a similar food culture to ASEAN countries and has advanced
technologies in the food industry. The ASEAN countries need Japanesetechnology in a wide range of fields, including seeds, agricultural machines, thefisheries industry, and dairy farming.
7 In Indonesia, for example, there are three major stages, from rice producers to
consumers. Because of these stages, consumers rarely have the opportunity toobserve the processes. The time involved in both the processing and distribution
also makes it quite difficult to keep the rice fresh. To solve this problem, we
would like to propose a new concept that includes the use of Japanesetechnology.
 Specifically, we will be able to introduce smaller and lower-priced machines using
Japanese technology, and will consolidate places for the three processes into one
place. In this way, we will be able to start businesses with as small an amount of
capital as possible. As a result, the distribution process of rice will be shortened,
and the price of rice will be held down. Consumers will be able to have fresh rice.
All of the processes will be checked in one place, and consumers’ concerns will be
removed.
 Mr. Myint Wai, Founder and Patron, Wa Minn Group of Companies
 The strengths of Myanmar’s food industry are plentiful natural resources, humanresources, government assistance, a large local market, and easy access tooverseas markets. It is important for Japan and ASEAN countries to cooperate
and establish a win-win relationship. This also applies to relationships between
ASEAN member states.
 Mr. Takashi Nishiyama, President, Nishiyama Seimen Co., Ltd.
 We manufacture ramen noodles. We are exporting ramen as food and are also
introducing its history and culture to overseas countries. In the domestic market,
we cannot expect growth due to the declining birth rate and aging population. In
foreign countries, ramen as a Japanese dish has gained customers, mainly
among high-income individuals and young people.
 I would like to point out three challenges that Japanese restaurant businesses
face when they expand to foreign countries. First, many Japanese restaurant
businesses are sole proprietorships and SMEs, and choosing local partners isimportant when they expand further into foreign countries. Overcoming thelanguage barrier will thus be a challenge. Second, quarantine regulations andstandards are different from those of Japan. Third, it is difficult to protect
techniques and craftsmanship that are handed down as intellectual property in therestaurant and service business.

8 Mr. Tomohiro Deguchi, President, Wakka Japan We are expanding business overseas as a rice store selling only Japanese rice.
Our main feature is exporting unpolished rice from Japan and polishing the rice atour overseas mills to provide fresh Japanese rice overseas.
 I would like to point out three important keys to overseas operations. First is
opening specialty restaurants. In the ASEAN countries, especially Singapore, theJapanese meal market is mature, and the need for restaurants serving specialty
dishes, such as rice bowl dishes, rather than restaurants serving a variety ofJapanese dishes, is increasing. Second are activities for raising awareness ofJapanese rice. Countries in Southeast Asia have a rice culture, but their foodculture is completely different from Japan where long-grain rice is eaten. We needto understand the difference. Third is setting reasonable prices. We are sticking toreasonable prices, hoping that people overseas will eat Japanese rice every day.
We are making efforts to sell Japanese rice at a price reflecting its value, while
protecting the Japanese rice brand.
(3) Roundtable 3: Regional Resources
 Mr. Yeonhang Chuah, Managing Director, Inter-Asia Links Co., Ltd.
 In 2011, I was involved in the foundation of AirAsia Japan, a joint venture of All
Nippon Airways and AirAsia. AirAsia Japan started service in 2012, but the joint
venture was dissolved only ten months later. AirAsia believed that an approach tojoint ventures in the ASEAN countries could also be employed in Japan and did
not attempt to understand the Japanese market. All Nippon Airways thus
terminated collaboration with AirAsia.
 Subsequently, AirAsia Japan changed its name to Vanilla Air Inc. and is continuing
to operate flights steadily under ANA Holdings Inc. On the other hand, AirAsia
established AirAsia Japan again in 2014, but has not started service yet three
years after the establishment. Like this example, unfortunately, there have beensome failed attempts.
 Mr. Truong Gia Binh, Chairman, FPT CORPORATION
 We are entering the fourth industrial revolution, and IT is changing from a tool to abusiness itself. Vietnam is attractive as a country where subcontractors in the IT
industry can be found with abundant human resources. The ASEAN countries,
including Vietnam, have plentiful human resources to make up for the shortage ofhuman resources in Japan during the fourth industrial revolution.
 We have a program for cultivating in-house engineers for Japanese customers. In
this program, engineers who receive training in Vietnam for three months are sent
to Japan, where they stay for a year. In this way, we are cultivating human9resources who have an understanding of Japanese language and Japanesecustoms in addition to IT skills.
 Mr. Noboru Tsujimoto, President, T-PLAN CO.,LTD Established in 2002, we operate sewing plants, a futon leasing business, andlinen supply business both in Japan and overseas. As the domestic market isshrinking, we expanded into Cambodia.
 When we started business in Cambodia, we considered doing mainly B2B
business. However, we changed the policy and shifted the focus from B2B to B2C.
We have decided to aim to provide the best quality and service in Phnom Penh. In
addition to Japanese and other foreign customers, local customers have been
increasing. Orders from hotels have also been increasing. We opened our first
store in Aeon Mall. Subsequently, we established standalone agencies andagencies alongside other facilities. We will increase the number of agencies stepby step. We plan to make local staff members into independent owners ofagencies and improve their standard of living.
Mr. Gerard Bustos Sanvictores, Chairman & President, QRD INVESTORSINC Of the four goals that the AEC has set, establishment of a single market andproduction base has not been achieved. One of the reasons is the low level ofmobility of human resources for highly specialized services in the ASEAN region.
As a solution, ASEAN has agreed on a service framework agreement. The
agreement stipulates the mutual recognition of licenses and certifications inservices among the ASEAN member states.
 For Japan and the ASEAN cooperating in sharing human resources, preparing fordiscussions on mutual recognition arrangements (MRA) is important. The biggest
challenge for sharing human resources is the language barrier.
 Mr. Daichi Konuma, Chairman of the Board, CROSS FIELDS Many Japanese companies feel that expanding into ASEAN countries is difficult.
There are two major reasons: (1) lack of entrepreneurship and global leadershipamong young Japanese, and (2) lack of mutual understanding between ASEAN
nations and Japan regarding each other’s culture at a grass-roots level.
 We offer a program where Japanese companies dispatch employees to NGOs
and companies addressing social issues in Asian countries, primarily ASEAN
member states. In the program, dispatched employees are expected to makecontributions to the local society, using their skills as business people. In general,businesses essentially do not exist solely for pursuing profits, and they have been10linked to solving social issues. We believe that many Japanese companies havebecome respected in ASEAN countries because of their involvement in solvingsocial issues.
6. Closing Remarks
In the closing session, the moderators of the roundtable meetings reported
discussions and exchanges of views at each roundtable meeting.
Co-Chairman Kataonzaka made a closing address, in which he emphasized three key
phases in relation to the strengthening of ties between Japan and the ASEAN:
two-way communication, never-ending development and local-to-local.
Lastly, Dr. Thanong Bidaya, Representative of AJBM Thailand national committee,announced that the 43rd AJBM will be held in Thailand.
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