Database on Basic Documents of Japan-ASEAN
Relations
Department of Advanced Social and
International Studies,
Opening Statement by Mr. Noboru Takeshita
Prime Minister of
(Manila, December 15, 1987)
Madam Chairman,
Distinguished Heads of Government,
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me the utmost pleasure to be given the honor, on the occasion of my first overseas visit as Prime Minister of Japan, to meet the distinguished Heads of Government of the ASEAN countries.
At the outset, I should like to extend my heartfelt congratulations on the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN, and on the success of the Meeting of the ASEAN Heads of Government held in its commemoration. I am convinced that the new policy-guidelines adopted at the Meeting and expressed in the Manila Declaration on intensifying regional cooperation will serve as driving force for further progress in ASEAN cooperation.
Madam Chairman,
My political career started when I became
the leader of a youth organization in my hometown. My first encounter with this
region incidentally dates back to 1961, when I toured
Since then I have had the privilege of visiting ASEAN countries several times. With every visit I was greatly impressed by the sight of their remarkable development setting an example for other developing countries to emulate.
Today, ASEAN is the focus of world
attention as a group of most dynamic nations in the Asia-Pacific region. The
progress of ASEAN was attained through the efforts of member countries to
strengthen regional cooperation, overcoming various difficulties. The key to
this achievement has been the spirit of cooperation guiding ASEAN, which I
believe has its roots in the spiritual tradition of
Madam Chairman,
I wish to take this opportunity to reaffirm
that Japan will be unswerving in its adherence to the fundamental principle of
its foreign policy which calls for doing its utmost for world peace and
prosperity and rejecting the path to a military power. This principle is firmly
rooted in the keen sense of self-criticism of every Japanese on the deplorable
history of the last war and thus is particularly crucial in the context of
It is with this recognition that the
promotion of friendly and cooperative relationship with the ASEAN countries has
constituted one of the pillars of
The fact that the ASEAN countries have reciprocated by attaching importance to their relations with our country is well appreciated. It is, therefore, a source of profound delight to me to see between Japan and each and every member of ASEAN a most friendly and cooperative relationship.
Thanks to the vigorous efforts on both
sides, ASEAN has become the third-largest trading partner for
On the political side,
Madam Chairman,
The ASEAN economies, for their part, have matured to embrace wider and more diverse economic sectors, from agriculture to high technology industry, from the early years of the grouping, when they were predominantly dependent upon primary industries. ASEAN, too, is broadening its ties with the international community.
It will, then, be only natural for
We must seize this momentum and work together to expand the depth and breadth of a New Partnership. This is surely the way for us to make the new era of solidarity truly fruitful.
With these thoughts in mind, I would like
to outline the economic, political, and cultural aspects of
My first point concerns the economic aspect of our policy.
It is my belief that
In recent years, developing economies have been buffeted by the vagaries of the world economic environment, such as the decline and stagnation in demand and the prices of primary commodities, and the drastic fluctuations in exchange rates.
The thrust of the ASEAN countries' efforts to overcome these difficulties has been directed toward enhancing the resilience of their economies through such measures as injecting greater efficiency, diversifying their economic structure, and expanding their export capabilities. Particularly noteworthy in their efforts is the emphasis given to the strengthening of the private sector reflected in encouragement of foreign investment.
First, the Japanese Government will extend financial cooperation of no less than 2 billion US dollars over a period of three years, for the promotion of the private sector development of each ASEAN country and to promote regional cooperation among the ASEAN countries. This will be called the ASEAN-Japan Development Fund (AJDF), and will be in addition to the normal bilateral financial cooperation. For this purpose, we intend to make available generally untied official and private funds through such measures as the ongoing recycling scheme.
The Fund will mainly be intended for
private enterprises in the industrial sector. The actual modality of drawing on
the Fund will be sufficiently flexible to the needs of individual countries,
taking account of close consultations between
With a view to contributing to the further development of the ASEAN economies, as well as accelerating the process of internationalization of Japan's economic structure, I am determined to exert efforts to further improve the market access of our country. Under the ongoing Action Program, measures with particular attention to ASEAN's interests have already been taken. Moreover, Japan significantly improved its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme on mining and industrial products this April. In view of the important role the scheme plays in promoting imports of manufactured products from the ASEAN countries, we intend to expand the ceiling quotas on these products, for the second consecutive year, in the coming fiscal year.
Japan regards highly the role played by the ASEAN Promotion Centre on Trade, Investment and Tourism, and intends to consider the increase of its budgetary contributions to double the Centre's current project budget of approximately 2 million US dollars for the coming fiscal year.
Japan will continue to attach great importance to the cooperative relationship with the ASEAN countries in tackling various problems facing the international economy. Joint efforts are particularly important in fighting protectionism, which constitutes grave threats to the global economy. From this viewpoint, Japan intends to pursue further coordination with the ASEAN countries in the Uruguay Round and to take due account of ASEAN's interests in the context of the negotiations.
Madam Chairman,
I wish now to comment on the political aspect.
It is my firm belief that Japan and ASEAN should strengthen cooperation on international political issues having an important bearing on peace and prosperity of the world, and particularly of Asia. The conflict in Cambodia still continues after nine years since its outbreak, and is yet to be resolved. It is regrettable that this dispute has impeded peace and stability in Southeast Asia and has continued to be a source of untold misery for Cambodians and others affected by it.
Japan has consistently pursued a comprehensive political settlement to this problem and has been taking such steps to urge the parties concerned to work to that end, taking, for instance, the opportunity of the political dialogues with Vietnam. In this context, Japan has held the peace efforts of the ASEAN countries in highest regard and will continue to support these efforts.
In the future process of political settlement, particular consideration should be given to the establishment of a Cambodia that is genuinely neutral and independent through withdrawal of the Vietnamese forces and the self-determination of the Cambodian people, as well as to ensuring the security of the countries concerned, particularly Thailand. Japan is resolved to play an active role with a view to achieving an early and comprehensive political settlement that satisfies these requirements while keeping in close touch with the ASEAN members.
Recent dialogue between Cambodians, which was realized trough the serious initiative of Prince Sihanouk, is a first step toward political settlement. I heartily welcome this development. Japan hopes that development for dialogue centering around Prince Sihanouk will make further progress and, through the positive response of Vietnam, lead to a concrete process for peace. We are resolved to lend maximum support to the efforts of Prince Sihanouk, with whom we have long maintained friendship. It is the ardent hope of Japan that not only the parties concerned but also the international community as a whole will sympathize with the Cambodians in their agony and distress, and provide active support to Prince Sihanouk.
On the broader question of international peace in the world as a whole, including Asia, the greatest factor is U.S.-Soviet relations. I sincerely welcome the progress made at the recent U.S.-Soviet Summit meeting, where the INF treaty was signed to realize the global elimination of INFs, including those in Asia, as our country had strongly supported. While outstanding issues between East and West still remain, Japan will continue to support the diplomatic efforts of the U.S., with a view to building more stable East-West relations. Japan is also determined to increase its active contribution toward peace and disarmament.
Madam Chairman,
Cultural exchanges and human contacts must be part and parcel of the total relationship, together with economic and political interchanges, and are of extreme importance in building the relationship of mutual understanding and trust between Japan and ASEAN.
It was with this recognition that my government dispatched a cultural mission to all the ASEAN countries last month. Based on the report and recommendations of the mission, I propose to launch a "Japan-ASEAN Comprehensive Exchange Program (JACEP)", whose objective is to promote exchanges in a variety of fields among the six ASEAN countries and Japan, all appreciating one another's traditions and cultures which are unique to each country.
The outline of the program is summarized in the paper before you. My basic thoughts which led to formulating the program are these:
First, the exchange between Japan and ASEAN should not be one-way, but rather be in both directions. With this view in mind, I shall consider new measures for introducing the culture of each ASEAN country to the Japanese people, including the establishment of a center for this purpose and inviting to our country from ASEAN people well-versed in their native cultural heritage and academics.
Secondly, mutual exchange must be intensified, both in its breadth and depth. To this end, I shall strive to significantly increase interchange in academics and in various areas of the arts and sport.
Our "Friendship Program for the 21st Century," has been in existence since 1984 as a five-year program. I shall extend the Friendship Program by another five years after 1989 and invite to Japan an additional 4000 youths from ASEAN countries.
Moreover, I believe that cooperation must be extended for our ASEAN neighbors not only to further their understanding of Japan but also to help promote mutual understanding among them. For this purpose, I shall work to strengthen our assistance to Japanese language studies and to increase the number of foreign students, while improving their situations in Japan in qualitative terms. I shall also seek to extend our support to regional studies programs and to academic and scientific cooperation and technical exchanges within ASEAN.
I have always held as the main theme of my political career the notion of "Creation of furusato." "Furusato" in Japanese means a place to which one can relate one's identity, and could be roughly translated into English as "home," with all the warmth, sweetness, and comfort associated with that word. The "creation of furusato" as I advocate it means creating a Japan that is more open and rich enough, not merely materially but spiritually as well, so that each and every Japanese can consider Japan as a whole as his "furusato", while living up to the expectations of the world. The idea, I feel, has much in common with the goals of your own nation- building efforts guided by the distinguished leaders of respective ASEAN nations who are gathered here.
My ardent hope, therefore, is that Japan's cooperation with the ASEAN countries may truly contribute to your efforts toward achieving the goals of each country.
Madam Chairman,
Japan, fully cognizant of the increasing international responsibility it must now shoulder, must now take bold initiatives in its foreign and domestic policies to pursue a society that will share its prosperity with the rest of the world as we enter the 21st century. One of the most important pillars of such bold initiatives is our cooperation with our ASEAN neighbors. As Japan's new Prime Minister, I pledge unequivocally that Japan will continue its active and sincere cooperation with our ASEAN neighbors.
As I pursue the policy of cooperation with ASEAN, the following three tenets shall guide me.
The first is that friendship shall be the basis of our approach toward others at all times. I shall always be mindful of the friendly ties with our ASEAN friends and in addressing, whatever international or domestic issue, I will listen carefully to the views of our ASEAN friends and give full consideration to their wishes.
The second is that private and local initiatives, in both Japan and the ASEAN countries shall be respected. There is already a growing trend at the grass-roots level to organize voluntary exchange programs in many fields, including the economic and cultural. This will undoubtedly give a new impetus to further development of Japan-ASEAN relations. I shall always respect and give my full support to such private initiatives.
The third notion to guide me is that Japan and ASEAN maintain and develop a relationship that contributes and is open to the rest of the world. The relationship between Japan and ASEAN can be described as that of "natural allies," closely linked by geography and history. But today when interdependence is deepening, not just within Asia and Pacific but on a global scale, we must not allow our relationship to be exclusive. It is imperative that we cooperate with one another for the peace and prosperity of the entire world.
As I am scheduled to visit the United States next January to have talks with President Reagan, I would like to see to it that what I discuss with you today will be fully reflected in my talks with the president.
Madam Chairman,
The remarkable emergence of Asia today marks a truly historic new chapter. We must seize this unprecedented opportunity.
It is the cooperation between Japan and ASEAN and our respective development that constitutes the key to further prosperity in Asia. Indeed, both Japan and ASEAN have an enormous responsibility for the future of Asia and the rest of the world. Together, let us begin the journey toward the new partnership between Japan and ASEAN.
Distinguished leaders of ASEAN,
I ask for your wise counsel and assistance, as I set out to make my share of the contribution to our common goal.
Thank you.