In a landmark commitment, the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have agreed to cooperate as partners in realising the goal of ASEAN integration including “alleviating poverty and narrowing the development gap within ASEAN”.
Dr Sadako Ogata, President of JICA and Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN, recently exchanged letters of cooperation to formalise this cooperation.
“It is only the beginning of more such regional initiatives which will contribute to the welfare of the people and the strengthening of ASEAN in the global community,” said Dr Surin. He expressed his appreciation to Dr Ogata for her ”goodwill and support through the years” and for the “vision she brings to this cooperation”.
JICA will post an expert at the ASEAN Secretariat to carry out consultations and to coordinate the joint activities.
Dr Surin reiterated that the ASEAN-JICA cooperation is significant because this will be the first time that JICA is cooperating with a regional organisation on a multilateral level. JICA will continue its bilateral assistance programme with individual ASEAN countries.
The two agencies will cooperate on addressing a package of issues including transnational issues such as environmental degradation , maritime safety and piracy, drug trafficking, infectious diseases, terrorism, and examine other areas for cooperation such as transport infrastructure, customs procedures and road regulations; enhancing capacity in peace-building and stability and post-conflict reconstruction; and, strengthening the ASEAN Secretariat.
There will be annual consultations on development assistance between the two partners. ASEC and JICA also agreed to undertake periodic joint assessments and other types of missions to identify potential areas of cooperation.
In the “Cooperation Arrangements”, the two agencies expressed their intention “to collaborate in a partnership aimed at assisting ASEAN in building a Community by 2015 which will be the cornerstone of the long-term goal of realising an East Asian community”.
The cooperation arrangements further said that “Noting the commitment of ASEAN in placing its people at the centre of the ASEAN community-building process, the two institutions also share the view that this partnership needs to play an instrumental role in promoting human development” as a common objective.
According to the ASEAN Charter, which is expected to be ratified by all Member States of ASEAN by the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok this December, the ASEAN Community is being built on three pillars – the Political Security Community, Economic Community and Socio-Cultural Community.
Following last year’s restructuring of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), the new JICA, which will incorporate the Japan Bank for International Cooperation which administers the yen loan component of Japan’s ODA, has become one of the world’s largest development agencies. The merger will make JICA more efficient and effective in meeting its development goals.
