2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Integration Seminar in US 

November 2023

JETRO and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) jointly hosted the "Asia-Pacific Economic Integration Seminar: Supply Chain Resiliency and the Outlook for Economic Growth in the Indo-Pacific Region" in a hybrid format on November 1, 2023, in Washington, DC.

After opening remarks by CSIS President and CEO John Hamre and opening remarks by Christina Sigal-Knowles, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Economics of the National Security Council (NSC), Chairman and CEO Ishiguro Norihiko gave the keynote speech, pointing out that in global supply chains, while the appetite for expansion in China is decreasing, the importance of ASEAN and India is increasing. He argued that governments, including those of Japan and the US, are required to (1) support the establishment of highly reliable supply chains, (2) ensure transparent export controls and (3) maintain a free and fair economic order. He stressed that the governments of the US and Japan should cooperate and exercise leadership in addressing these issues by utilizing frameworks such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

The panel discussion was moderated by Christopher Johnston, Senior Advisor and Japan Chair at CSIS, and included Todo Yasuyuki, Professor of the Graduate School of Economics, Faculty of Political Science and Economics, at Waseda University; V.S. Seshadri, Senior Fellow for Economic Security at Delhi Policy Group; Shanti Shamdasani, CEO and President (Founder) of S. ASEAN International Advocacy & Consultancy and Chairman of the East Asia Business Council; and Emily Benson, Director of the Project on Trade and Technology and Senior Fellow and Scholl Chair in International Business at CSIS, as panelists to discuss challenges and prospects for supply chain resilience in the Indo-Pacific from the perspectives of their respective countries and regions. A lively dialogue took place regarding the following issues: the need for greater friend-shoring between the US and Japanese governments; the need for policies and action plans that can be implemented by actors on the ground, including SMEs, as protectionist tendencies continue in the Indo-Pacific; the need to introduce India's diverse approaches to economic resilience and to share best practices among IPEF member countries; and that supply chains are a means of de-risking and the next step in international trade governance.