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Japan aiming to be strategic partner in ASEAN

According to highly placed sources, Japan intends to apply for ASEAN CSP status this year to mark the 50th anniversary of relations between Japan and ASEAN.

Prior to now, Japan presented a concept paper to the ASEAN Secretariat outlining its future plans for the CSP application. Early in December, in Tokyo, the two sides will hold a commemorative meeting, according to the sources.

China, Australia, and the US received the CSP status from ASEAN in 2021; the US and India received it in 2022. South Korea, in addition to Japan, has already stated that it plans to apply for CSP in 2019.

The recipient nation must show its overall contribution to advancing ASEAN relevance and bolstering ASEAN centrality in order to be granted CSP status. According to the sources, senior ASEAN officials will meet with their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo on March 27 and 28 as part of the ASEAN-Japan Forum to review bilateral relations and preparations for the 50th anniversary of Japan-ASEAN relations.

The sources claim that ASEAN and Japan will collaborate on their action plans for the upcoming year during the Tokyo meeting. Japan has stated its determination to lay out a new vision for ASEAN-Japan cooperation in the future.

It will shortly be announced which commemorative activities and exchange programs will take place in 2023. Japan is the only participant in the discussion to have released a joint statement outlining how the Free and Open Indo-Pacific and the ASEAN Perspective on the Indo-Pacific frameworks function together.

Within the four areas of cooperation—maritime, connectivity, sustainable development, and economic affairs—both parties have identified more than 60 projects.

Thailand serves as a hub for coordination between ASEAN and Japan. In 1973, Japan and ASEAN began an informal discussion that was formalized in March 1977.

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