Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi,
Your Excellency Foreign Minister Yohel Kono,
Your Excellency Secretary General Rodolfo Severino,
Secretary General Takashi Onda,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I would like to congratulate the ASEAN Promotion Center and the Nihon Keizei Shimbun for organizing this very important symposium and to thank Secretary General Onda for inviting me to participate.  The new century does prompt us to look at the future directions of one of East Asia’s most vital partnerships, that is, of ASEAN-Japan cooperation.  In this task, our shared past journey can be most instructive and inspiring.

 Indeed, the roots of ASEAN-Japan relations go farther back than a quarter century ago.  But the two most important impulses that gave it its present vitality were probably the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the first ASEAN Summit held in Bali in 1976.
 
 These two events had a profound impact on Japanese foreign policy.  With the reduced US presence in the region, Japan was expected to take up the challenge of giving concrete support to Southeast Asian efforts at regional organization and to display its willingness to take on greater international responsibility.

Japan’s response came clear and soon enough.  Japan responded with its heart-to-heart diplomacy-“kokoro to kokoro.”  From the heart, Japan resolved to be an active partner in the promotion of peace and progress in Southeast Asia.  That was the essence of the Fukuda Doctrine, which was enunciated by former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda in 1977.  Japan became a leading light in the quest for a resolution of the Indochina situation.  The development of Southeast Asian economies became a strong Japanese policy objective.

Japan actively supported ASEAN by undertaking regional projects, establishing a fund for cultural exchanges, and holding regular conferences between Japan and ASEAN foreign ministers.  In 1981, our gracious host today, the ASEAN Promotion Center on Trade, Investment and Tourism, or APC, was established in Tokyo.  In 1984, the Friendship Program for the 21st Century was inaugurated.

Then in 1987, the Third ASEAN Summit, which was held in Manila, heralded the advent of the “special relationship” between Japan and ASEAN.  At that summit, Japan was the only Dialogue Partner guest of ASEAN.   Then Prime Minister Noburo Takeshita, in a speech entitled “Japan and ASEAN: A New Partnership Toward Peace and Prosperity,” set the tone for this partnership.  He stressed three policy goals, namely, to strengthen the economic resilience of ASEAN, to promote political coordination between ASEAN and Japan, and to promote cultural exchanges.

Japan’s unwavering commitment to these policy goals showed most clearly ten years later-when Southeast Asia plunged into the worst economic crisis to hit the region, and the world, in a half-century.  In quick succession, Japan launched the Miyazawa Initiative, the Hashimoto Initiative and the Obuchi Plan to stave off further damage from the crisis and to lay the foundation for recovery and sustained growth in crisis-affected countries.

 The recovery that is now gathering momentum in the region therefore owes so much to the timely and massive action and wholehearted support of our Japanese partners.

 Now, ASEAN-Japan cooperation is at an important juncture.  The sense of East Asia as one organic whole is catching on.  Closer regional cooperation, not only on economic issues but also on matters of peace and security, is now clearly the preferred way to our common future.  And rightly so, since the threats to peace and prosperity are many and can come from all directions.  The scars and issues left over from the past are not going away.  Terrorism, religious extremism, ethnic unrest, trafficking in illicit drugs, arms and persons, piracy, and other transnational crime do not respect borders or jurisdictions.  We can succeed in overcoming these threats only if we understand one another more and act as one.

In the East Asian region, ASEAN Plus Three is fast shaping as a viable common front.  Begun in Kuala Lumpur in 1997, the annual ASEAN Plus Three Summit has become an effective vehicle for understanding and cooperation.  In Manila last year, the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met among themselves for the first time.   Also, the 13 East Asian leaders issued their first-ever joint statement, in which they expressed their commitment to cooperate more closely in the political, security, economic and cultural spheres.

That watershed summit was soon followed by unprecedented ministerial meetings.  The Asean + 3 Economic Ministers met in Yangon and identified nine priority areas for cooperation, including the new economy sectors of information technology and e-commerce.  The Asean + 3 Finance Ministers met in Chiang Mai and launched new mechanisms for financial cooperation, including a network of currency swap and repurchase arrangements.  And the Asean + 3 Foreign Ministers met in Bangkok just two months ago and adopted the modalities for the implementation of the Manila Joint Statement, particularly with regard to political and security cooperation.

 It was with this desire for more open and comprehensive dialog that ASEAN invited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum.  We also requested the Chairman of ARF to become more pro-active in dealing with regional issues.

 It may be too soon to say where all this flurry of developments will lead, but I am sure that you in this hall share my optimism.  For so long, countries in our common region had wanted a way to chart and pursue a future of stability, peace and prosperity together.  Now we have the opportunity.

 This afternoon, thanks to the ASEAN Promotion Center, we have the privilege to study Japan-ASEAN relations-a core pillar of this great East Asian endeavor.  This pillar has stood the test of time; its more outstanding rewards may still lie ahead.
 
 In that future, the evolving structures of the global economy, the technological progress, the demographic changes, and the realignments in the regional power balance must be reflected in more intense cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.   Indeed, our work is enormous; our partnership agenda is full.

 Because of this, ASEAN Foreign Ministers in their meeting in New York last September 18 decided to increase the ASEAN members’ contributions to the ASEAN Promotion Center, starting 2001, by some 42 percent.  We hope that this modest increase in ASEAN contribution when complemented by Japan will lead to a stronger APC and prepare it for an enhanced role in promoting ASEAN-Japan relations.

Because of this also, we must turn to and harness the energies of all our people.  We must make them more aware of what we are doing and why.  We must make every Japanese and ASEAN man, woman and child a full partner in building our common home.  After all, this is the best way to build true and lasting partnership-kokoro to kokoro.

Thank you.