International: The Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi held a dialogue with the Federation of Japanese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in ASEAN (FJCCIA) on 17 July at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.
This dialogue marked ASEAN Secretariat’s effort in strengthening its engagement with the private sector. It addressed three main areas that are important for the realisation of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), namely trade facilitation, labour management and industrial human resource development, and data governance.
In his welcome remarks, the Secretary-General highlighted the importance of the collaboration with the private sector, which holds the key to greater and more sustainable progress of the AEC. He further emphasised that ASEAN welcomes closer engagement and collaboration with the Japanese industry players, since both side are deeply committed to promoting growth, opportunities and human capital development in the region.
Responding to Dato Lim’s statement, FJCCIA’s Chairman Shinji Nakano emphasised the necessity of making cross-cutting discussion between public and private sector for ASEAN be able to adapt and innovate in this digital era. Furthermore, Chairman Nakano expressed FJCCIA’s appreciation for ASEAN Secretariat’s efforts in strengthening engagement with private sector through a mechanism such as AEC Dialogue.