HUA HIN, Thailand, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Saturday stressed the importance of a long-term vision of building an East Asian Community and reiterated Japan's continued support for ASEAN's community building efforts.
During the ASEAN-Japan Summit, ASEAN leaders said they welcomed such support as well as Japan's commitment to raise ASEAN-Japan cooperation to a new level.
On Sept. 17, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said it is a long-term objective of East Asian cooperation to establish an East Asian Community to promote lasting peace in East Asia and boost the economic and social development of the region in a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable way.
"It is also the consensus of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan and Republic of Korea," she told a regular press conference in Beijing.
Japan reaffirmed its determination to contribute to ASEAN's efforts to address the intraregional development gap. In this regard, Japan will next month organize the first Japan-Mekong Summit to promote the Mekong region.
On climate change, they agreed on the need to contribute to the success of the Copenhagen summit. In this regard, Japan stated that it had initiatives to provide various forms of assistance to developing countries.
To strengthen regional cooperation, both sides noted the importance of building a strong bond of mutual trust between countries and peoples through youth exchanges. Currently, 6,000 youths per year, including through exchanges between universities, are welcomed into Japan to strengthen ties between the people of ASEAN and Japan.
The two sides also exchanged views on ASEAN-Japan cooperation in various areas, including trade and investment, narrowing of the development gap within ASEAN, climate change, food and energy cooperation, including the development of clean and efficient energy, and response to pandemics such as influenza A/H1N1.
During the ASEAN-Japan Summit, ASEAN leaders said they welcomed such support as well as Japan's commitment to raise ASEAN-Japan cooperation to a new level.
On Sept. 17, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said it is a long-term objective of East Asian cooperation to establish an East Asian Community to promote lasting peace in East Asia and boost the economic and social development of the region in a comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable way.
"It is also the consensus of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan and Republic of Korea," she told a regular press conference in Beijing.
Japan reaffirmed its determination to contribute to ASEAN's efforts to address the intraregional development gap. In this regard, Japan will next month organize the first Japan-Mekong Summit to promote the Mekong region.
On climate change, they agreed on the need to contribute to the success of the Copenhagen summit. In this regard, Japan stated that it had initiatives to provide various forms of assistance to developing countries.
To strengthen regional cooperation, both sides noted the importance of building a strong bond of mutual trust between countries and peoples through youth exchanges. Currently, 6,000 youths per year, including through exchanges between universities, are welcomed into Japan to strengthen ties between the people of ASEAN and Japan.
The two sides also exchanged views on ASEAN-Japan cooperation in various areas, including trade and investment, narrowing of the development gap within ASEAN, climate change, food and energy cooperation, including the development of clean and efficient energy, and response to pandemics such as influenza A/H1N1.
