Greetings from the Secretary General
As we usher in the New Year 2012, I would like to express the greetings of the season. First of all, on behalf of the ASEAN-Japan Centre, I would like to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to all people afflicted by the Great East Japan Earthquake last year. We sincerely pray for the earliest recovery and restoration of the affected regions and a hopeful coming year.
Since its establishment in 1981, the Centre has been promoting trade, investment and tourism between ASEAN Member Countries and Japan through exhibitions of ASEAN products, organization of capacity-building seminars and workshops, dispatch and invitation of missions, publications and information services, among others.
Over the past 30 years, ASEAN Member Countries have achieved remarkable economic growth. According to an estimate by the ADB, the average economic growth rate of the ASEAN Member Countries will be 5.7% in 2012, owing to their expanding domestic demands and sharply increasing intra-ASEAN exports. At the time of its establishment, the Centre’s focus was placed on programs in which Japan could support the economic activities of the ASEAN Member Countries. However, with the outstanding development of the advanced ASEAN Member Countries and the widening of the economic gap between the advanced and the late-developing member countries, it became necessary for the Centre’s activities to be further deepened and expanded to keep pace with the rapid change and development.
Against this background, amendments to the Agreement Establishing the Centre were made and the revised Agreement came into effect on April 1, 2011. With the amendments, the ratio of obligatory contributions provided by Japan and the ten ASEAN Member Countries has changed to 7:1 from 9:1, making the contributions from the ASEAN Member Countries more substantial. In addition, it was agreed to introduce two-way promotional programs for tourism and investment, which used to be one way from Japan to ASEAN. Further, “people-to-people” exchange, not limited to exchange in the economic field, was introduced as the Centre’s fourth mission. Therefore, we have embarked on a wide variety of cultural exchange events including art exhibitions, fashion-shows, student-exchange programs in addition to trade exhibition with business meetings and economic as well as tourism seminars at our ASEAN-Japan Hall (multi-purpose hall), in order to strengthen ASEAN-Japan partnership in various aspects.
ASEAN-Japan relations are becoming more and more important. Prime Minister Mr. Noda also said that strengthening of international relations between Japan and countries in the Asia-Pacific region including ASEAN, which are the development center of the world economy, is key to the Japanese New Development Strategy. With its declining birthrate and the aging population, it could be said that enhancing and expanding its network among other nations is necessary for the future development of Japan. In particular, friendly relations with reliable pro-Japan countries such as ASEAN Member Countries are essential. Narrowing the intra-ASEAN economic gaps, which is also mentioned in the New Development Strategy of the Japanese government, is the most critical issue to the birth of the ASEAN Community by 2015. It is also our Centre’s mission to tackle the issue as the Centre’s role in the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community is specified in the ASEAN Charter. In 2012, the Centre will continue to further strengthen its activities to promote the development of the countries in the late-developing Mekong Region, especially Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, by utilizing 70 percent of our operational budget for the countries.
Taking full advantage of the networks and relations built up over the past years, the Centre will make every effort to create substantial achievements from our activities with limited resources. We are determined to contribute to developing trust and symbiosis of ASEAN and Japan by emphasizing the importance of mutual understanding and partnership.
Finally, I wish to send best wishes to all of you for happiness, good health and prosperity and would like to seek your continued and warm support to the activities of the ASEAN-Japan Centre.
January 2012
Profile
Yoshikuni OHNISHI
Professional Experience
2009-Present : Secretary General of ASEAN-Japan Centre, Tokyo
2007-2009 : President, Japan International Business Advisory Co., Tokyo
2004-2006 : Consultant to the Secretary General of APO
1996-2003 : Director, Research and Planning Division of APO
1995 : Chief Coordinating Officer of APO
1974 : Research and Planning Officer of APO
1967 : Joined the Secretariat of the Asian Productivity Organization (APO)
Others
2005 : Lecturer, Social Information Department, Jumonji Women’s University, Japan
2000 : Receipt of Foreign Minister’s Award
1982 : Lecturer, Economic Department, Nagoya University, Japan
1975-1980 : External Researcher, Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo
Academic Background
1960-1964 : BA in law, Waseda University, Japan
1973-1975 : MSc in Developing Economies, University of Bath, UK
