Indonesia and Japan Strengthen Cooperation in Several Fields
- Istimewa/Biro Pers Istana Kepresidenan
Japan – The Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) urged to strengthen cooperation with Japan. This was stated by the President at the ASEAN-Japan 50th Anniversary Summit in Tokyo, on Sunday.Â
"This partnership must be realized in the form of concrete cooperation and have direct benefits for society, such as cooperation on infrastructure funding, energy transition, digital transformation, food security, and strengthening supply chains," said the Minister as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube. on Monday.Â
According to Minister Marsudi, the ASEAN-Japan partnership must also be forward-oriented in building a new generation of partnerships to become an anchor for regional prosperity, peace, and stability.Â
Then, the President outlined the topic of reviewing ASEAN and partner relations for peace and stability, that the high level of economic growth, as well as the large demographic of the young population, would be in vain if stability and peace didn't exist. not maintained.
Therefore, ASEAN and Japan must work together to be part of the solution to maintain stability and peace in the region, Minister Marsudi remarked.Â
Meanwhile, the solution presented by President Jokowi was to maintain peace and stability in the region in three ways, namely building inclusive collaboration, including implementing the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, she added.Â
“Respect International Law Rules, including UNCLOS 1982 and regional norms. And continue to strengthen ASEAN centrality, including in resolving Myanmar's problems through the Troika mechanism,"
Furthermore, Minister Marsudi stated that President Jokowi also discussed strengthening efforts to strengthen relations between communities, continuing to build future-oriented partnerships, amidst increasingly complex world challenges.
The Indonesian President also emphasized that the focus of future cooperation must also be to bring the ASEAN and Japanese communities towards transformation in the era of Industrial Revolution 5.0.
According to Minister Marsudi, this can be achieved if cooperation focuses on improving the quality of talent through educational cooperation, research development, and digital economic development, including increasing community mobility.
"Moreover, ASEAN's large workforce can support Japan's high need for skilled professional workers,"
In addition, President Jokowi said that future ASEAN-Japan economic cooperation must prioritize two things, namely accelerating digital transformation for up-skilling and re-skilling human resources, as well as integrating MSMEs into the digital ecosystem, where the ASEAN Japan Center can support this effort.
"Strengthening food and energy security through cooperation in the agricultural and food technology fields, as well as investment in technology transfer to accelerate the energy transition," the Minister said.Â
"The President also hopes for Japanese support to encourage the use of RCEP, through the establishment of an RCEP Support Unit in Jakarta," she concluded.