Three MOUs Signed with ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC)

Jun 06, 2023

JETRO signed the three MOUs as follows with ASEAN-BAC for cooperation

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO, President: Norihiko Ishiguro) signed the following three MOUs with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC, Chairman: Arsjad Rasjid) during the ASEAN-Japan Business Week to further strengthen cooperation between ASEAN and Japan.

JETRO will take the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation as an opportunity to build cooperative relations between Japan and ASEAN in this new era through these initiatives under the ASEAN-Japan Economic Co-creation Vision, which will be finalized soon.

JETRO, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Economy (METI), and the ASEAN-BAC will jointly host the ASEAN-Japan Young Business Leaders’ Summit and Generation Z Business Leaders’ Summit in December this year to build new network between Japan and ASEAN for the next generation. JETRO and the ASEAN-BAC have agreed to closely cooperate in organizing these Summits.

These summit aim to build and strengthen mutual understanding and trust between the future business leaders in Japan and ASEAN by discussing and proposing joint solutions to social issues.

At the ASEAN-Japan Business Week, Co-chair of the Steering Committee of the ASEAN-Japan Business Leaders’ Summit; Mr. Takeshi Niinami, Representative Director of Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) and President and CEO, and Representative Director of Suntory Holdings Limited, and Mr. Arsjad Rasjid, Chairman of the ASEAN-BAC and President Director of Indika Energy gave their remarks expressing their expectations for the Summit. In addition, young business leaders and Generation Z business leaders discussed expectations for each summit at the panel discussion sessions.

JETRO and METI have launched the "ASEAN-Japan Co-Creation Fast Track Initiative" to generate open innovation through collaboration between startups and leading companies in both ASEAN and Japan by cooperating with the government agencies of ASEAN countries.

Under this initiative, startups will have the opportunity to (1) receive support not only from Japanese organizations such as JETRO, but also from the government agencies of ASEAN countries, and (2) access not only major Japanese companies but also a wide range of startup ecosystems, including leading companies based in ASEAN.

Moreover, finalist startups will receive additional points in the selection process in the ASEAN-Japan DX Promotion Program to support their PoCs (see the website for details(899KB)).

Through the ASEAN-Japan Co-Creation Fast Track Initiative, JETRO will promote open innovation for the mutual growth of ASEAN and Japan and lead the creation of global innovation.

【Singapore】Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event
Pitch event by finalists: April 20th, 2023

In Singapore, the first "Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event" was held on April 20th, co-organized with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Enterprise Singapore, and Singapore Economic Development Board.

For more information on the Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event and the challenges, please refer to JETRO Topics and the special website below.

Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event（Event Report）
Singapore-Japan Fast Track Pitch Event（Special Website）

In this March, Japanese government held the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo by inviting ministers of various countries such as ASEAN member states and Australia. The participants launched AZEC as a platform and agreed to AZEC joint statement including the three following common views:

The ASEAN BAC, on the other hand, established ASEAN Net Zero Hub as one of the new legacy projects this year. The initiative will support private firms in ASEAN region to achieve net zero emissions through developing decarbonization plans and green finance and will share accumulated knowledge.
To promote those initiatives toward decarbonization, JETRO and the ASEAN-BAC have agreed to closely cooperate with each other. The concrete collaboration items are going to be: