JICA President Tanaka Akihiko.— Photo courtesy of JICA Việt Nam

Tanaka Akihiko

2023 is a milestone year that marks the 50th anniversary of friendship and cooperation between Japan and ASEAN. It is an important year in which we reflect on the past 50 years and consider what we should do for future generations to ensure peace and prosperity in Japan and ASEAN for the next 50 years.

ASEAN was initially established in 1967 as a consultative body of five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Japan-ASEAN relations began in 1973 when the two parties resolved the friction over the export of synthetic rubber by Japan through ministerial meetings.

One of the important efforts was 1977’s Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda’s speech at Manila, which was later to be labelled as the Fukuda Doctrine speech. And he set up three principles: first, Japan rejects the role of a military power. It wouldn’t become a military power. Second, Japan will strengthen "heart-to-heart" relationships of mutual confidence and trust with Southeast Asian countries. And third, Japan will be an equal partner of ASEAN and its member countries.

In the subsequent decade, in 1981, when Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki visited ASEAN countries, he proposed that Japan cooperate in establishing ASEAN Human Resources Development Centers. These centres served as Japan’s pioneering project to support human resources development and promoted active exchange among people from ASEAN and Japan. They laid the foundation for today’s friendly relationship between Japan and ASEAN.

Later, Japan-ASEAN relationships underwent major changes following what’s called the Plaza Accord of 1985. Backed by a high yen value, Japanese corporations expanded their investments and businesses in Southeast Asian countries. In parallel, the Japanese government cooperated in developing economic and social infrastructure through its ODA, thus contributing to the development of ASEAN countries.

Formally, JICA, the organisation called Japan International Cooperation Agency, was established formally in 1974.

One of JICA’s foremost projects is the Brantas River Basin development projects in Indonesia, which began in 1961 and continue even today. The projects used Japanese ODA to develop multi-purpose dams, irrigation facilities, and other structures in the Brantas river basin which had often been damaged by floods. As a result of this project, the Brantas river basin became a major rice-producing district in Indonesia, and it became the driving force behind the country’s achievement of rice self-sufficiency in 1984.

In the early 1990s, the Cold War structure collapsed, signifying a major turning point in contemporary history. In Southeast Asia, a comprehensive Cambodian peace agreement was reached in 1991 to bring peace to Cambodia and the former Indochina region. From 1995 to 1999, four countries in the Mekong region - Việt Nam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia - joined ASEAN successively. This developed ASEAN into a regional community that covers the entire Southeast Asian region.

In the 1990s, following the Cambodian peace agreement, JICA resumed full-fledged cooperation projects for three continental Southeast Asia countries: Cambodia, Laos, and Việt Nam. JICA provided cooperation in various infrastructure development projects. Examples include roads, bridges, ports as typified by the Sihanoukville port in Cambodia; power plants, medical institutions as exemplified by the Chợ Rẫy hospital in Việt Nam; and urban water supply services in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Vientiane, Laos.

Another example is legal and judicial development cooperation with these countries, Việt Nam, Cambodia and Laos. This project includes support for the drafting of a civil code and the development of legal professionals. One common characteristics of this intellectual cooperation was joint research, which I believe offers a lot of insight as to the way of cooperation JICA should aim for in the future. In a word, we often use these words nowadays, co-creation of knowledge through shared dialogue and interaction.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, economic development in ASEAN countries as well as the establishment of ASEAN Community and the deepening of its integration had been really, really remarkable.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN countries achieved striking economic growth, more than doubling their nominal GDP over 10 years, and came to be known as “growth centre of the world”. Of course, in 2020, because of the pandemic, ASEAN member states saw negative growth, except for Viet Nam, but since then, they have shown vigorous recovery from the recession.

Politically, these countries established the ASEAN Community. ASEAN countries declared the establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2003, and they adopted the ASEAN Charter in 2007. At the end of 2015, ASEAN deepened integration among its member states by launching the ASEAN Community, which consisted of the Political-Security Community, the Economic Community, and the Socio-Cultural Community.

Due to the economic development of ASEAN countries, the establishment of the ASEAN Community and deepening of integration among its members, and the emergence of ASEAN as an important player in the international community, the relationships between Japan and ASEAN are undergoing considerable changes. ASEAN countries are becoming even more important to Japan, as peace and prosperity in ASEAN leads directly to peace and prosperity in the entire East Asian region, including Japan. JICA will extend its support to strengthen the ASEAN Community and its Secretariat.

Today, when we direct our eyes to the world, we find ourselves in the midst of a series of “compound crises”. These compound crises involve three layers of crises: the outermost layer is the physical system, as typified by climate change and natural disasters; within that outermost layer is what is called the living system, as exemplified by infectious diseases and ecological disasters; and innermost layer is the social system, where there are issues of armed conflicts and geopolitics as well as many economic and social crises.

Up to now, traditional international relations studies and international relations policy-making are conducted only as a matter of social systems. But we lay down the nature of compound crises. We are now facing compound crises not just from social systems but interactions of physical systems, living systems and social systems. So, unless we take the interaction of social, living physical systems into consideration, we cannot focus on the cracks of the issue. All humankind - including conflicting parties – must work together to build a system of cooperation to address these compound crises.

In this context, Japan has been promoting a new rules-based order from Asia to Africa under the vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. In response, ASEAN has developed the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. Japan will continue to contribute to the development of the Indo-Pacific region together with ASEAN and its member states, which are located at the centre of the Indo-Pacific region.

JICA will cooperate with the ASEAN and its members as equal and increasingly more important partners in order to solve global issues. One characteristic of JICA’s past technical cooperation, including training programmes, has been that participants from Japan and ASEAN countries learn each other’s strong points and jointly create knowledge through dialogue and interaction. In the future, JICA will further promote this type of interactive and collaborative programme.

Moreover, it is necessary to advance cooperation and exchange between Japan and ASEAN countries in a more multilayered way through various channels in the public and private sectors. Even today, JICA owes much of its activities to the support of our partners in industry, government, and academia. From now on, JICA will consider how we can support such partners’ activities that contribute to the development and stability of the ASEAN region. We will keep in mind JICA’s function as a facilitator for cooperation and exchange activities in the region.

Finally, in the words of the Fukuda Doctrine, “Japan will strengthen "heart-to-heart" relationships of mutual confidence and trust with Southeast Asian countries,” and “Japan will be an equal partner of ASEAN and its member countries.” Today, these words, announced 46 years ago, become reality. When looking back on the past 50 years of JICA’s cooperation, through its financial aid, technical cooperation, and volunteer programmes, what we aimed at and have achieved is the really people-to-people, heart-to-heart bondage that truly cultivated trust between ASEAN and Japan. That’s what the Fukuda Doctrine meant to promote. In order to continue to be a reliable and important partner, Japan must continue to learn from developing ASEAN countries and hold in-depth dialogues to advance together.

The next 50 years belong to the young generation. Through this symposium, you will take home with you the visions and insights for action that will enable the people of Japan and ASEAN, including yourself, to work hand in hand to open up a bright future, to face the world together, and to solve global issues.— VNS

Tanaka Akihiko is JICA President. His opinion was presented at the Symposium to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Friendship and Cooperation between Japan and ASEAN.