(Note from MindaNews: This is the official transcript of President Rodrigo Duterte’s speech, released by the Presidential News Desk of the Presidential Communications Office)
Presidential Communications Office
Presidential News Desk
REMARKS
OF
PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
AND
JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE
DURING THE
20TH ASEAN-JAPAN SUMMIT
[Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Pasay City | 13 November 2017]
PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Good evening. It is a pleasure to welcome once again Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Philippines.
On behalf of the ASEAN, I offer warmest congratulations to Prime Minister Abe on his party’s — the decisive victory in Japan’s general election last month as well as his reelection as Japan’s Prime Minister.
ASEAN-Japan relations have matured into a strategic partnership for peace and stability, prosperity, quality of life, and mutual trust and understanding.
We can trace the beginnings of today’s robust ASEAN-Japan relations to 1977, when the Fukuda Doctrine, being Japan’s foreign policy, approached towards a heart-to-heart relationship with our region.
Based on equal partnership and 40 years later, Japan has become one of ASEAN’s strongest political dialogue partners and steadfast supporter of ASEAN centrality and community-building.
I give special thanks to Prime Minister Abe, whose vision statement respects the ASEAN’s role in the regional architecture while espousing Japan’s proactive contribution to peace as a fundamental security principle.
In this light, we can expect a good executive report on the progress of the vision statement to ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation, which we adopted in 2013.
Considering the allotted time for our meeting, I would like now to call on Prime Minister Abe to deliver his opening remarks.
You have the floor, Your Excellency.
PRIME MINISTER ABE: Only two weeks ago, I welcomed President Duterte in Japan. I’m so grateful for the warm hospitality as I see him again here in Manila. I am also delighted to see again the ASEAN leaders here.
At the outset, I’d like to express my congratulations on the 50th anniversary on the founding of ASEAN.
I’d like to pay my tribute to the success of ASEAN as an entity to lead the regional cooperative frameworks while accomplishing an outstanding economic development.
ASEAN that has developed as a rule-based community, sharing values and norms in diversity is providing a model for the world as it advanced its cooperation in the spirit of tolerance and harmony.
In 2013, for my first overseas trip as the Prime Minister of Japan, I chose the countries of Southeast Asia.
In so doing, I presented five principles of Japan-ASEAN diplomacy.
During that year, I visited all of the ASEAN member countries. At the Japan-ASEAN Commemorative Leaders’ Meeting held in Japan in December of the same year, I pledged to provide ODA to the tune of two trillion yen in five years in order to contribute to deepening the integration of the ASEAN community.
It’s been four years since and I’d like to convey to you here today that this promise was all delivered.
Already, in Southeast Asia, democracy, rule of law, and market economy have taken route and confidence, responsibility and leadership are nurtured.
It is important, now that ASEAN has become the main actor of the world, we must extend the success of ASEAN to the entire region of Indo-Pacific and induce further potential of this region.
In the 50 years ahead, what I expect is that ASEAN facing two oceans of Indian and the Pacific jointly lead the world based upon the achievements made hitherto to develop the international order that is free and open, founded on the rule of law.
Japan will strongly push forward ASEAN by exercising leadership so that integration goes even further as a community.
Furthermore, we will cooperate in creating a resilient society, where all peoples of the region can exhibit in freedom their potential to the fore, enjoy peace and prosperity based on the rule of law, and be able to actually feel the quality of life without inequalities.
In the process of further development, ASEAN won’t be able to avoid the challenges that Japan encountered hitherto like ageing with low fertility, environment, energy, and so on.
Japan will proactively share with the ASEAN our knowledge and experience that we have gained until now.
And through cooperation with you both on hard and soft aspects such as quality infrastructure upgrading, sophistication of industrial structure and human resource development so that we can cooperate for the entire ASEAN development.
ASEAN’s cooperation for the next five years has already began under the partners in four areas which was announced in 2013 at the Japan-ASEAN Commemorative Leaders Meeting bearing in mind the collaboration with international organizations like ADB.
Japan will render cooperation for the realization of more integrated community, resulting to all available tools with our public and private sectors acting in unison.
In the area of partners for peace and stability, we will work for the substantial upgrading of HRD provision of supplies and intellectual contribution in the member countries in order to develop free and open international orders based on the rule of law.
In so doing, we will implement cooperation at the tune of Y55 billion yen in the coming three years for the purpose of enhancing maritime law enforcement capacity.
Likewise, we will do capacity building support and training by Japan Coast Guard and STF, as well as training in cooperation with RECAP?
In response to the rising threat of terrorism in Asia, we continue to assist ASEAN nations in the domain of terrorism and the violent extremism.
While we cooperate in reconstruction efforts in Marawi, the Philippines, we will also cooperate so as to support the government of Myanmar toward the improved situation in the Rakhine State.
In the security field, under the Vientiane Vision, which is a guideline for the Japan ASEAN Defense Corporation, practical defense cooperation be strengthened.
In the area of partners for prosperity, I wish to promote free trade by clearly presenting the importance of free and open trade, and investment.
In Asia Pacific, we will aim at realizing early entry into force of TPP and pursue comprehensive wheel balance and high-quality RCEPleading into the creation of FTAP.
With their respective agency agreement, negotiations on revised protocol concluded after seven years of negotiation. I welcome this major outcome and hope for early signing.
Japan and ASEAN is promoting enhanced connectivity and improved industrial infrastructure by investing in quality infrastructure.
To be specific, under the Quality Infrastructure Export Expansion Initiative, both public and private sectors will provide funds of about 200 billion dollars in five years from now to mainly Asia but also to the entire world.
Thus, working on project for quality infrastructure contributing to improved connectivity.
In addition to quality, we will continue to expediting Yen Loan Project. We wish to see the early conclusion of Japan-ASEAN Technical Cooperation Agreement which was agreed upon at the Japan-ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in August and expand the support tools.
At the same time, we wish to contribute to the Master Plan on Connectivity impact led by ASEAN.
We will be promoting our work on quality infrastructure that is in accordance with the international standards such as being open, transparent, economically viable as well as ensuring the physical soundness of the recipient country.
We also will promote innovation where Japanese and ASEAN companies collaborate and will support so that the companies of ASEAN are not left behind the economic growth and strong SMEs are created one after another.
Furthermore, I’d like to note that bilateral currencies swap arrangement where yen withdrawal is possible was concluded for the first time with the Philippines.
I hope this to cover other countries so as to seek financial stability within the region.
In the areas of partners for quality of life, we will be working on the new challenges that ASEAN will face going forward assisted by area and others.
For example on aging, through Asia health and human well-being initiative, we in Japan would like to realize a society in Asia where people just don’t live long but can enjoy healthy longevity.
Another effort is through Japan-ASEAN environmental initiative to cooperate for building recycling-oriented society so that sustainable development goals are also attained in other areas of science and technology, disaster risk reduction and health. We want to share our knowledge.
In the field of heart-to-heart partners, I note that the genesis that I presented in 2007 has marked the 10th year this year. About 30,000 young people exchanged in this program.
In the cultural work project, more than 2.1 million artists and persons of culture exchanged in the Japanese language partners too. There are good outcomes like sending 600 people per annum.
Furthermore, in October of this year Japan-ASEAN sports ministers meeting was held for the first time.
Going forward, I wish to see more exchanges in the sports field and greater penetration of Olympic and Paralympic movements.
Through such educational culture and people to be good in exchanges, I sincerely wish to see greater mutual thrust as heart-to-heart partners between Japan and ASEAN.
Nuclear and missile issues of North Korea is a grave and imminent threat that we have never experienced.
We need to make North Korea change their policy by enhancing the pressure applied to North Korea to the highest level by all available means including the full implementation of the Security Councils resolutions.
Thank you.
PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Thank you Excellency for your kind words. We will now move to the closed session. I’m sure the beautiful and beloved media guys would know what to do. [laughter]
— END —
