Mission of Japan to ASEAN
ASEAN日本政府代表部
ASEAN日本政府代表部
|
Japan's cooperation with ASEAN in the field of people-to-people exchangeFebruary 2016 1. Background In order for Japan and other countries in Asia to work together, it is essential that the young people learn to build a future based on a sense of mutual understanding as they are the ones who will be responsible for the region in the time to come. It is also important for ASEAN to strengthen its ties through people-to-people exchanges in order to build a cohesive ASEAN Community that can overcome differences in language, religion and culture. The joint declaration “ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together” that was adopted at the ASEAN Summit in November 2015 states that ASEAN aims to be an inclusive, sustainable, resilient and dynamic community that benefits the people by engaging them. As part of the substantive effort to build an ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, the declaration lists the promotion of people-to-people interaction and mobility within and outside ASEAN as one of its action points. The people-to-people exchanges between Japan and ASEAN member states form part of our support for the ASEAN Community. 2. Examples of Japan’s cooperation activities In view of building a solid foundation for a strong sense of solidarity in Asia, Japan has been promoting youth exchanges between Japan and ASEAN countries on a large scale in a wide range of fields, such as politics, society, history, science and technology, arts and culture, and sports. The first of these efforts began with the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Program that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced at the Second East Asia Summit in January 2007. 30,000 young people, who will be our future leaders, are expected to have participated in the exchange programs by March 2016. Number of exchanges between Japan and ASEAN countries
For example, young people from Cambodia and Vietnam who visited Japan on the JENESYS2015 program had the opportunity to observe the “World Assembly for Women (WAW! 2015)” that was held in August 2015 in Tokyo. Through this and other activities, they were able to deepen their understanding of Japanese society and traditions in addition to fostering a sense of ASEAN unity through exchanges among ASEAN participants. Furthermore, the participants continue to deepen their interaction through JENESYS’ Facebook page and other means even after they returned home. At the same time, they contribute to promoting the diversity of Japan’s charms and a sustained interest in Japan.
3. Direction of future cooperation At the ASEAN Summit in November 2015, Prime Minister Abe reiterated Japan’s commitment to steadily deepening heart-to-heart partnerships through JENESYS2015 and other programs. Various leaders from ASEAN expressed that they were thankful of Japan’s initiatives in promoting people-to-people exchange. Japan will continue to further promote exchange among young people who will be the future leaders in various fields in the rapidly developing ASEAN region, as well as to invest in promoting a greater understanding of Japan’s economic policies through “JENESYS2016 (theme: economy)”. The program were included in the supplementary budget of the 2015 fiscal year and will focus on the economy. Through the program, young people will participate in exchange activities, as well as visit small and medium enterprises, agricultural sites and local governments. In an opinion poll on Japan in seven ASEAN countries that was conducted in 2014, more than 90 per cent of the respondents believed that their country had a “very friendly” or “somewhat friendly” relations with Japan, and considered Japan to be a “trustworthy” or “trustworthy, but with some reservations”. There is a high level of interest in Japan with as many as 10 per cent of respondents having learnt Japanese. Exchange among young people thus serves an important role in underpinning this sort of favourable opinion towards Japan. Japan will continue to promote mutual understanding through JENESYS and other programs. This will contribute to strengthening the ASEAN Community through the networks built among participants, and thus enhance the understanding on today’s Japan.
|
