Greetings from DISG Secretariat
Dear readers,
April is the season for welcoming the Lunar New Year in four of the five ASEAN countries located in the Greater Mekong Subregion, excluding Vietnam. I hope that all of you enjoyed your vacations in your own way, whether you participated in large-scale festivals such as the Water Splash Festival in Thailand, visited your family members who live far away from you and gathered around the table to celebrate reunions after a long time, or took the opportunity of the pandemic's quieting down to travel abroad.
In this month's Newsletter, we are pleased to present the following 4 topics for our readers:
- • 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation International Symposium
- • Announcement of newly established Asia DX Boost UP Program and the 4th Call for the Regular Course
- • Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event held
- • ASEAN Youth Economic Forum (AYEF) 2023
Best regards,
ISHIKAWA Hiroshi
Chair of AMEICC DISG Task Force
Executive Director, JETRO Singapore
Special Advisor to Minister, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan
50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation International Symposium
On March 16, 2023, Prime Minister Kishida gave an opening remark via a video message at an international symposium held by the Japan Foundation to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.
In his video message, Prime Minister Kishida mentioned the preciousness of the relationship between Japan and ASEAN that he felt during his visits to ASEAN countries during his tenure in office, and expressed his desire to promote attractive cultural and human exchange initiatives in the future to pass this relationship on to the next generation.
He concluded his remarks by stating that a new vision for ASEAN-Japan cooperation will be presented at a special summit meeting to be held in December to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.
- Prime Minister Kishida's Video Message (English sub) (LINK)
Announcement of newly established Asia DX Boost UP Program and the 4th Call for the Regular Course
On April 10, 2023, the 4th call for applicants for the regular course for demonstration projects to be implemented in ASEAN began. In addition, the "Boost UP Program”, which provides support for further business expansion of startups that have already commercialized their businesses in the ASEAN region, has been newly established, with applications scheduled to open in early May.
The “Asia Digital Transformation (Asia DX) Promotion Program” has been supporting co-creation projects between ASEAN and Japanese companies in conducting demonstration projects toward contributing to solving local social challenges in ASEAN countries by utilizing innovative approaches, such as digital technologies, while leveraging their technology, knowledge and other advantages. This year, the regular course of the subsidy program will be implemented again, targeting demonstration projects to be implemented in ASEAN.
In addition, a new course, Asia DX “Boost UP Program” for Project Scale-UP Phase, is going to be established to coincide with the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation. This new course will target projects which their business models have already been commercialized in the ASEAN region and will support its business scale-up through collaboration with venture capitals.
In FY2023, the following two courses are accepting applications for demonstration projects: the Regular Course (4th Call) and the Boost UP Program.
- New course for the Asia Digital Transformation (Asia DX) Promotion Program to Be Established, and the 4th Call for the Regular Course Announced (English) (LINK)
- Launch of the 4th Open Call for Asia DX Promotion Program in ASEAN-Japan (Japanese) (LINK)
(Past public offering results)
- Result of the 3rd Open Call for Asia DX Promotion Program in ASEAN-Japan (English) (LINK)
- The 2nd Open Call for Asia DX Promotion Program in ASEAN-Japan (English) (LINK)
- The 1st Open Call for Asia DX Promotion Program in ASEAN-Japan (Japanese) (LINK)
ASEAN Youth Economic Forum (AYEF) 2023
From March 17 to 21, 2023, the ASEAN Youth Organization hosted the “ASEAN Youth Economic Forum (AYEF) 2023”, with the theme "Building A More Inclusive Youth Participation in ASEAN-Japan Friendship,", in Jakarta, Indonesia, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.
More than 300 people from ASEAN countries and Japan participated, both online and on-site, in the public forum held on the first day of the five-day forum.
In the Circular Economy Discussion held during the Forum, participants from each country discussed under the themes; “Promoting A Resilient and Sustainable Economy in ASEAN and Japan Through the Circular Economy”, and “policy recommendations for each ASEAN country” (Policy Recommendation Discussion). The final policy recommendations of this forum will be shared with Key Government Officials to implement the ASEAN Framework on the Circular Economy in their national-level policies going forward.
- ASEAN Youth Organization Official Website (English) (LINK)
- Media release of ASEAN Youth Economic Forum 2023 (English) (LINK)
- Research: Understanding E-waste Management and the Young Consumers in ASEAN: An Opportunity for Circular Economy. (English) (LINK)
Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event held
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), co-organizing with Singapore government agencies, held the first Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event (the "Fast Track Pitch Event") in Singapore on April 20th, 2023.
The event, which attracted more than 200 on-site participants and 200 online participants, was opened with video messages from Mr. Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Dr. Tan See Leng, Second Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore, who stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation for the creation of innovation between the two countries.
The pitch session featured proposal presentations by 22 finalist startups selected by each challenge owner from more than 140 applications from around the world (including 4 Japanese companies and 4 Singapore-based global companies).
Please refer to METI’s news release and JETRO's special website for the detailed challenge statements and finalist startups.
Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event:
﹘ METI’s news release (English) (LINK)
﹘ JETRO’s special website (English) (LINK)
﹘ JETRO SG’s YouTube Channel (Video of the event) (English) (LINK)
Editorial Note
Please look forward to the future webinar series and information dissemination through newsletters and our website, social media, etc. Please look forward to the future webinar series and information dissemination through newsletters and our website, social media, etc.
