JICA-RI Deputy Director Contributes to an Academic Book to Commemorate the 40th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation

ASEAN-JAPAN RELATIONS , a book to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, was published from the publications department of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) based in Singapore. The book was co-edited by Professor Takashi Shiraishi, President of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) and Mr. Takaaki Kojima, former Ambassador of Japan to Singapore, who served as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at ISEAS. In the volume, researchers in various areas of expertise conduct diverse analyses of past relations between ASEAN and Japan, and discuss the future prospects.

From JICA-RI, Deputy Director Naohiro Kitano contributes one chapter entitled “Japanese Development Assistance to ASEAN Countries.” He argued that Japanese development assistance to ASEAN—Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Philippines—and to Vietnam has encouraged foreign direct investment, especially from Japan, through infrastructure development, which led to economic development. Kitano pointed out that Japan’s assistance promoted balanced development between urban and rural areas as well as human resource development. He also described its recent support for enhancing ASEAN connectivity.