Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has suggested four areas of cooperation to deepen the partnership within Asean and empower its people to be better equipped to face future challenges.
These areas include Public Health, Climate Action, Disaster Management, and People-to-People Exchanges.
Anwar spoke at the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit in Tokyo and urged Asean and Japan to remain vigilant against future health crises based on the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. He proposed that researchers from Asean Member States and Japan be placed at the Asean Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases.
Furthermore, Anwar suggested that Asean and Japan continue to collaborate closely on climate action initiatives to advance regional and national mitigation and adaptation strategies, and also welcomed Japan’s commitment to funding this. He emphasized the importance of timely and comprehensive action to address the irreversible impacts of climate change.
Anwar highlighted the need for deeper collaboration with Japan in efforts to establish Permanent Disaster Relief Centres and emphasized the significance of Japan’s contributions to operationalizing the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.
He also appreciated Japan’s initiatives such as JENESYS1 which help bridge cultural divides and foster a shared identity among the people of the region. Anwar expressed Malaysia’s encouragement for students from Asean Member States to choose Japan’s University of Tsukuba’s branch campus in Malaysia for their tertiary education.
Following Anwar’s proposals, the leaders adopted a vision statement and an implementation plan for future cooperation under the theme of co-creation, concluding the summit.
The summit was co-chaired by the host, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
