Greetings from DISG Secretariat
Dear Readers,
As many of our ASEAN-Japan member countries celebrate Lunar New Year, we would like to extend our warmest wishes to our dear readers as well. May this majestic Year of the Dragon be filled with good health, boundless prosperity, and remarkable success for all.
In this volume of monthly newsletter, we’ll be covering major events in the past month, including the visit of the President of the Supreme Council of Cambodia, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, to Japan in January. Moreover, we’d like to update on the progress in which many countries have already started to launch agreements and activities based on the initiatives discussed in the Summit Meeting between ASEAN-Japan last December. This volume will highlight the “Cooperation Framework” that has been launched in response to the “Co-creation” initiative, focusing on the industrial development between Japan and Thailand.
To elaborate more in details, this volume will cover 2 topics as follow;
- • Courtesy Call from Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Supreme Council of His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia
- • Ministerial Meeting between Japan and Thailand on “Cooperation Framework”
Best regards,
ISHIKAWA Hiroshi
Chair of DISG Task Force
Executive Director, JETRO Singapore
Special Advisor to Minister, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan
Courtesy Call from Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Supreme Council of His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia
On January 11, 2024, Prime Minister Kishida received a courtesy call from Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Supreme Council of His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia, at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The courtesy call was attended from the Japanese side by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Moriya and others, and from the Cambodian side by Minister of Civil Service Hun Many and others.
At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Kishida expressed his welcome to the visit to Japan by Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Supreme Council of His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and his desire to cooperate with Cambodia to strengthen bilateral relations as well as cooperation in the regional and international arena. In response, Samdech Techo Hun Sen welcomed the progress of cooperation between the two countries under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Manet and Prime Minister Kishida.
In bilateral cooperation, Prime Minister Kishida expressed his desire to cooperate with Cambodia in the digital area, strengthening connectivity, the security area, and the democratic development of Cambodia. Prime Minister Kishida also expressed his desire to cooperate on various regional and international issues such as the response to North Korea, including issue of its nuclear and missile programs and the abductions issue, the situation in Myanmar, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and the situation surrounding Israel and Palestine.
In response, Samdech Techo Hun Sen expressed his appreciation for Japan's contribution to Cambodia, and expressed his desire to continue strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation with Japan in the regional and international arena.
- Courtesy Call from Samdech Techo Hun Sen, President of the Supreme Council of His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia (English) (by Cabinet Public Affairs Office) (LINK)
- Courtesy call on Prime Minister Kishida by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN Sen, President of the Supreme Council of His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Cambodia (by MOFA) (English) (LINK)
Ministerial Meeting between Japan and Thailand
on “Cooperation Framework”
On February 8, 2024, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan Mr. Saito Ken held a meeting with the Minister of Industry of Thailand (MIND) Ms. Pimphattra Wichaikul, and exchanged opinions on the industrial development, in particular, on maintaining and strengthening Thailand’s competitiveness as a production and export hub of the next-generation automobile industry, with the aim of realizing “co-creation” by jointly creating industries and human resources that will support the future of both countries.
In hoping to early launch the “Energy and Industry Dialogue” agreed upon at the summit meeting in December last year, the two ministers exchanged the written version of the Cooperation Framework with a view to accelerating bilateral cooperation in the industry field.
The Ministers recognize there are some important areas for upgrading manufacturing in Thailand and will work together on various topics with related organizations in order to advance bilateral cooperation. In particular, specific emphasis will be put on the following areas;
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1. Developing human resources for the manufacturing industry
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2. Decarbonization including manufacturing processes and industrial parks of manufacturing industries
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3. Strengthening the supply chain resilience of the manufacturing industry including promoting ELV (end-of-life vehicle) measures
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4. Study for the utilization/development of next generation energy for automobiles
The meeting concluded and both ministers agreed to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation on industrial development.
- Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Saito held a meeting with Thailand's Minister of Industry Pimphattra (Japanese) (LINK)
Editorial Note
