On December 17, the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation was held. Fumio Kishida, Minister of Japan, expressed that Japan will promote a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), as a partner for peace and security of ASEAN countries. He has also written the intention to strengthen security cooperation including maritime security cooperation into the Joint Vision Statement.

Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia are in conflict with China over maritime territorial disputes. In April, in order to strengthen cooperation with countries facing similar problems, Japan established the Official Security Assistance (OSA), a framework for financial cooperation in the security sector that is different from the Official Development Assistance (ODA), which is limited to non-military assistance. However, even among the three countries: the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, there are differences in their policies toward China, and they want to take a neutral stance on the US-China conflict. Therefore, the OSA was considered to be an “issue only between two countries, i.e. Japan and another ASEAN country” and was not included in the Joint Vision Statement.

The relationship between Japan and ASEAN has dramatically changed during the past 50 years. As written in the “ASEAN-Japan Economic Co-Creation Vision,” Japan and ASEAN are partners aiming to realize fair and mutually beneficial economic co-creation, and this relationship is no longer something that is between the “supporting” country and “supported” countries. Rather, Japan is already in a position to be chosen now. I visited Indonesia last week for the first time in a long time. Traffic jams, one of the notorious characteristics of Jakarta, were seen as they had been before, and it looked like the share of Japanese cars was still high. However, I also noticed that the presence of Chinese and Korean automobiles has been obviously increasing. The EV taxis driving around the town were BYD vehicles from China, and the vehicles displayed at the event space of AEON MALL were “IONIQ 5,” electric vehicles of Hyundai from Korea.

The purpose of my trip to Indonesia was to sign an exclusive business partnership agreement in Japan with LPPOM MUI, a government-approved Halal certification body in Indonesia.¹ Indonesia is a growing market supported by domestic demand with a population of 240 million, and excluding the resource and infrastructure sectors, Japanese companies are lagging behind in the market. One of the reasons is the differences in lifestyles and cultures based on Islam. Therefore, through this business partnership, we have established a system to provide support regarding such differences in Japanese, so there is no need to be concerned. Come to think of it, I saw that the staff at the local chain restaurant were wearing hats of Santa Claus, and the Christmas events held at the shopping malls were crowded with parents and their children. I was a bit surprised, but it seemed that everyone was enjoying the Christmas season without any hesitation. The threshold is not as high as you might feel. I do hope Japanese companies and people try to enter new markets without worry and explore new opportunities.

*1: Yano’s Business Partnership with LPPOM MUI: Yano Research Institute Ltd. Signs Exclusive Contract with LPPOM MUI for Halal Certification Partnership Services (December 14, 2023)

This Week’s Focus, December 22, 2023

Takashi Mizukoshi, the President