PRESS RELEASES

The 7th Dialogue between Secretary-General of ASEAN and FJCCIA

1 July 2014

    The 7th Dialogue between Secretary-General of ASEAN and Federation of Japanese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in ASEAN (FJCCIA) was held on 24 June, 2014 in Manila, the Philippines.

    Initiated in 2008 and has been held annually since then, the Dialogue is aimed for the FJCCIA to address regional issues faced by Japanese companies operating in ASEAN to the ASEAN Secretariat which consults with relevant ASEAN stakeholders. Representing ASEAN were H.E. Mr. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN; and from the Government of the Philippines, Dr. Lilia B. De Lima, Director-General of Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and Undersecretary, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The delegates from the Japanese side included Mr. Tetsuo Tomino, Chairman of FJCCIA and also as Chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, H.E. Mr. Koichi Aiboshi, Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN, Mr. Hiroyuki Ishige, Chairman and CEO of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Mr. Toshio Nakamura, President of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as heads of Japanese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) in ASEAN Member States. Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura, Executive Director of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) also participated in the Dialogue.

    In this Dialogue, the heads of JCCIs in ASEAN Member States explained the requests of FJCCIA for year 2014 and 2015. Specifically, they included customs facilitation, reduction of non-tariff barriers, establishment and introduction of unified standard and conformity assessment systems, avoidance of double taxation, liberalization of services, free flow of business persons, protection of intellectual property rights, conclusion of RCEP negotiations with ambitious level by the end of 2015, development of hard infrastructure such as roads and electricity, and others. In response, the ASEAN Secretariat reported major progress of ASEAN on these requests.

    Following the Dialogue, Working Luncheon between Mr. Takehiko Nakao, President of Asian Delopment Bank (ADB) and FJCCIA took place, where Mr. Nakao made a speech on Asian economy and role of ADB.

    It is hoped that economic integration of ASEAN toward 2015 and beyond will be enhanced further through active communication between business sector and ASEAN.