PRESS RELEASES

The 27th ASEAN Transport Facilitation Working Group Meeting and Japan’s contribution to the meeting

29 April 2014

   The 27th ASEAN Transport Facilitation Working Group Meeting (TFWG) was held on 24-25 April 2014, in Lombok, Indonesia, with participation by Japan and some other dialogue/development partners. From Japan, officials from Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan and Mission of Japan to ASEAN attended the meeting. From the ASEAN side, officials in charge of logistics and transport facilitation from all ASEAN Member States and staff from the ASEAN Secretariat attended the meeting, with the chairmanship under Mr. Sugiharjo, Senior Expert Staff for Logistics and Multimodal, Ministry of Transportation of Indonesia.

   There were active discussions in the Meeting on various issues including: (1) briefings on detail implementation plan and schedule for the Project on Human Resource Development in Logistics Services for ASEAN Member States, funded by Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund; (2) deliberation on updates and future status of the Study on the Land Bridge connecting ports in ASEAN mainland, supported by MLIT-Japan, as well as the Study on MIEC (Mekong-India Economic Corridor studied by ERIA), both of which are transport facilitation related key initiatives under Brunei Action Plan (BAP: ASEAN Strategic Transport Plan) and Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC); (3), updates by MLIT-Japan on their ongoing cooperation projects of ASEAN-Japan Green Logistics Project, Sea and Land Multimodal Logistic Study including RoRo vessel service and other projects under ASESAN-Japan Logistics Partnership (AJLP) as well as updates on preparation for the upcoming ASEAN-Japan Senior Transport Officials Conference (STOM-Japan) in June in Tokyo. The meeting noted progresses reported on the above.

   Given its vital role in realizing free and efficient flow of goods and services, logistics and cross-border transport facilitation is recognized as one of the important and strategic sectors for ASEAN Connectivity and ASEAN Integration, while different Member States are at different stages of development and institutional readiness in logistics. In this regard, Japan will continue endeavoring to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN in this sector.