Ha Noi, 29 October 2010 The 13th ASEAN-Japan Summit, chaired by H.E. Mr. Nguyen Tan Dzung, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, was held on 29 October 2010 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. The Heads of State/Government of the ASEAN Member States had a productive meeting with H.E. Mr. Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan. The ASEAN Leaders warmly congratulated H.E. Mr. Naoto Kan on his re-election as Prime Minister of Japan and expressed their conviction that his able leadership would further strengthen and consolidate the existing close relationship between ASEAN and Japan. We appreciated Japan’s contribution to ASEAN Integration and community building efforts and reaffirmed the importance of our long-standing friendship and strategic partnership based on enhancing peace, stability, and prosperity in the region. We decided to commence the process of reviewing the Tokyo Declaration for the Dynamic and Enduring ASEAN-Japan Partnership in the New Millennium and its Plan of Action with a view to issuing a new declaration and the revised Plan of Action at the 14th ASEAN-Japan Summit to be held in 2011 in Indonesia.

The ASEAN Leaders appreciated the appointment of Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN in April and expected the early establishment of Japan’s permanent mission to ASEAN in Jakarta. We committed to strengthening coordination and cooperation mechanism in Jakarta through Committee of Permanent Representatives + Japan process. We stressed the importance of maintaining the Japan – ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) to secure funding for the implementation of the ASEAN-Japan cooperative activities. ASEAN Leaders underscored the importance of Japan in ASEAN’s external economic relations, which account for 10.5 percent and 13.4 percent of ASEAN’s trade and investment in 2009, respectively.

ASEAN Leaders expressed appreciation to Japan’s continued commitment to further enhancing cooperation in promoting ASEAN economic integration, and in narrowing the development gap within ASEAN. We were pleased to note the progress made in implementing the ASEAN Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP), since its entry into force on 1 December 2008. We tasked our Economic Ministers to address all implementation issues to ensure the smooth implementation and maximum utilization of the AJCEP. We also welcomed the recent development toward commencement of negotiations on trade in services and investment, and endeavored to achieve substantive outcomes by August 2011. We welcomed the report on the outcome of the 3rd Dialogue between the Secretary General of ASEAN and Federation of Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in ASEAN (FJCCIA). We reaffirmed the importance of private sector’s engagement in ASEAN Community building process. We welcomed the proposal by Malaysia to host the 4th FJCCIA Dialogue in 2011.

ASEAN Leaders welcomed Japan’s support for ASEAN integration and narrowing the development gap based on Japan-ASEAN Strategic Partnership, including Japan’s contribution to the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund, the implementation of Japan’s initiative to strengthen Asia’s growth potential, and Japan’s proposal to further promote “ASEAN-Japan Partnership for New Growth in Asia” through supporting the implementation of the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community 2009-2015. ASEAN Leaders welcomed Japan’s readiness to contribute to the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, especially Japan’s “Initial Plan for Cooperation on ASEAN Connectivity” as a token of Japan’s strong support for ASEAN’s initiative. ASEAN Leaders called on Japan to support the enhancement of both hard and soft infrastructure through developing economic corridors and key infrastructure, human resource development and capacity building. We instructed our ministers and officials to further enhance ASEAN-Japan institutional connectivity through establishing and implementing the ASEAN single window and other trade facilitation measures. We appreciated Japan’s plan to assist ASEAN customs authorities in modernizing their customs operation through the Asian Development Bank.

The ASEAN Leaders also noted the intention of Japan to promote its policy to further expand “Open Skies” with ASEAN countries. We reiterated the importance of the ongoing cooperation to narrow the development gap and connectivity both in hinterland and in the archipelagic states through such sub regional development efforts as the Mekong-Japan partnership, BIMP-EAGA, and IMT-GT. We appreciated the on-going progress in implementing the outcome of the First Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting and welcomed the successful convening of the 2nd Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting, in Ha Noi on 29 October 2010, the 2nd Mekong-Japan Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Da Nang, on 26 August 2010 and its Action Plan, and the 3rd Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Ha Noi, 21 July 2010. We supported and noted with satisfaction the steady implementation of Action Plan 63 which includes an action plan to implement “A Decade toward the Green Mekong” initiative and the “Mekong Japan Economic Industrial Cooperation initiative (MJ-CI) Action Plan”. We reaffirmed the importance of resolving the climate change issues and committed to working closely together towards a positive outcome at COP-16/CPM-16 to be held in Mexico in December 2010. We also welcomed all efforts to address climate change and biodiversity issues discussed at the Ministerial Meeting of the REDD+ Partnership in Nagoya, Aichi on 26 October 2010 and the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) held in Nagoya on 18-29 October 2010.

In this context, ASEAN leaders welcomed the invitation of ASEAN officials responsible for climate change policy to Japan in order to deepen mutual understanding on climate change policy. We reiterated the importance of sustainable development, including energy efficiency and energy conservation for sustainable development and in this regard appreciated Japan’s initiatives such as the Smart Community Initiative, the Asian Sustainable Chemical Safety Plan. We also looked forward to the success of the forthcoming ASEAN-Japan Transport Ministers Meeting and the ASEAN-Japan Public and Private Joint Forum for the promotion of safer and more environmentally friendly vehicles as well as Japan’s new initiative on environment improvement in the transport sector. We noted with appreciation Japan’s active contribution to socio-cultural cooperation, especially in the fields of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, human resource development, industrial relations, and health and welfare. With regard to disaster relief field, in order to improve regional capacity, and strengthen international cooperation and coordination for disaster relief, we welcomed the co-hosting by Japan and Indonesia of the Disaster Relief Exercise (DiRex) 2011 in the framework of ARF. We shared the necessity to promote exchange among the universities and researchers in the region. In this regard, the ASEAN Leaders appreciated Japan’s ongoing cooperation to support ASEAN University Network and South East Asia Engineering Education Development Network. We also recognized the importance of enhancing regional cooperation in the field of science and innovation, and shared Japan’s initiative on “East Asia Science and Innovation Area” as a long-term vision and aspiration. We highly appreciated the contribution of the ASEAN-Japan Centre to promote trade, investment and tourism, and noted with appreciation its important role in narrowing the development gap. We were pleased with the progress of youth exchanges under the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths which have invited approximately 7200 ASEAN youths, contributing to community building within ASEAN and in East Asia. We appreciated Japan’s cooperation in improving the regional capacity to combat terrorism, particularly through the ASEAN-Japan Counter-Terrorism Dialogue and reaffirmed our commitment to the joint efforts. We shared the common recognition that it is vitally important to ensure regional peace and stability, maritime security and safety, unimpeded commerce and freedom of navigation, in accordance with universally agreed principles of international law, given the growing interdependence of trade, investment and people-to-people exchange, and the growing interconnectivity at seas. We appreciated Japan’s contribution to the completion of ASEAN Security Outlook to enhance transparency and confidence-building in the region. We welcomed the successful convening of the 1st ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) held in Viet Nam in October 2010 and committed to work together to strengthen defense cooperation in this framework. We also noted a proposal to further strengthen defense dialogue and exchange bilaterally and through fora such as Japan-ASEAN Defense Vice-Minister-level Meeting. We supported ASEAN’s central role in regional cooperation and were resolved to enhance regional cooperation in the evolving regional architectures. We committed to working together to strengthen EAS with the participation of the Russia Federation and the United States of America from 2011. Recognizing that peace and security on the Korean Peninsula would greatly benefit the region, we reaffirmed our support for a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula. We encouraged the parties to resume the Six-Party Talks in due course and settle all disputes by peaceful means. We also emphasized the importance of addressing the issues of humanitarian concerns of the international community.

ASEAN Leaders highly appreciated Japan’s constructive role in the G-20 and Japan’s support for the ASEAN Chairs to participate in the G-20 Summits in the future on a regular basis to share ASEAN’s insight and perspective on global economic and financial issues. We welcomed Japan’s chairmanship of the forthcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Yokohama on 13-14 November 2010 and looking forward to its successful outcome.Source: http://asean2010.vn/asean_en/news/48/2DA9EC/Chairmans-Statement-of-the-13th-ASEAN-Japan-Summit