Your Excellency,

On behalf of my ASEAN colleagues, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you and members of your delegation to this annual meeting of the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue. We are pleased that you could join us here in Bangkok despite your assumption of office a month ago.

The ASEAN-Japan Dialogue is an important and one of ASEAN's most active dialogue relationships. This Meeting provides an excellent opportunity for us to review the state of our dialogue relationship and have constructive discussions on a whole range of other issues of mutual interest. We should also set the policy direction for the dialogue for the coming year.

My ASEAN colleagues and I had a very fruitful meeting here last week. We are pleased with the progress ASEAN has made. The ASEAN economies are buoyant, growing at rates faster than the developed countries and far greater than most developing countries. Southeast Asia has seldom been more peaceful than now. The Asia-Pacific region is on the economic ascendancy.

Notwithstanding this positive mood, there are concerns that this stability and prosperity could be easily disrupted. The rapidly changing global and regional environment will throw up new challenges and problems. Some of these problems like overlapping territorial claims and competition for resources are already evident. Until a new world order is defined, there will be a great deal of uncertainty.

There is a consensus in ASEAN that it must remain proactive to help manage the global and regional change peacefully. ASEAN has become an anchor of political stability and catalyst for economic growth and cooperation in the region. It is imperative for ASEAN to continue and expand the cooperative and consultative processes - processes which have served this region so well.

I am happy to report that at this 27th AMM/PMC, ASEAN crossed new milestones. First, it brought all the important countries in theregion to sit together for the first time to discuss political and security issues. We hope that the ASEAN Regional Forum would start a process of discussion and consultation which would help build trust and confidence among its participants.

Also for the first time, Foreign Ministers from all ten Southeast Asian countries were present at an ASEAN meeting. This is significant as it was not long ago when some of these countries were locked in armed conflict ASEAN has received signals from countries like Vietnam indicating that they would like to become members of ASEAN. Expanding ASEAN to the rest of Southeast Asia will help to strengthen our economies further and to preserve the political stability in Southeast Asia. ASEAN will hold consultations with Vietnamese officials on the appropriate modalities for Vietnam's eventual membership in ASEAN.

Japan is one of ASEAN's most important economic partners. As ASEAN's top trading partner and investor, Japan has played a major and positive role in building up the ASEAN economies. ASEAN has also benefitted tremendously from Japan's generous economic development assistance, Japan remains the largest donor to ASEAN.

Over the past two years, the mechanisms to promote ASEAN-Japan ties have been strengthened. In 1992, the ASEAN Economic Ministers started the practice of meeting regularly with the Japanese MITI Minister. In 1993, the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue was upgraded to the Senior Officials' level and political and security issues were added into the agenda. This year, we see Japan's participation in the first ASEAN Regional Forum.

The promotion of people-to-people has also been given a boost with the recent extension of the ASEAN Friendship Programme for another five years. This'programme, which brings about 900 ASEAN government officials and youths to Japan every year, has helped to foster greater understanding among our peoples. We welcome the extension. It will give more opportunities for our people to know Japan and for Japanese to know ASEAN, thereby contributing to the strengthening of mutual trust.

As political and cultural cooperation between ASEAN and Japan expands, we should not lose sight of the need to enhance our economic cooperation as well. Many of the issues ASEAN and Japan have been discussing over the years remain on the agenda. ASEAN-Japan trade has grown phenomenally. ASEAN welcomes this trend and will do its part to facilitate this trade. Japan could do more to promote ASEAN's exports to Japan by improving market access and the GSP scheme for ASEAN and by introducing clearer and simpler import procedures. In so doing, we could bring about a better balance of trade. ASEAN's trade deficit with Japan has surged from US$9.2 billion in 1992 to about US$14.8 billion in 1993.

ASEAN hopes that the new package of deregulation measures announced by Japan recently will provide greater opportunities for trade and investment flows between Japan and ASEAN. Japan, in liberalising its markets to help resolve its bilateral trade and economic problems, should not ignore the interests of ASEAN. The deregulation measures adopted should be GATT-consistent.

Japan continues to be among the largest investors in ASEAN. However, in recent years, the rate of flow of Japanese investments into ASEAN has slowed down. In contrast, Japanese investments in the rest of Asia, in the US and Europe have risen. ASEAN looks forward to working closely with Japan to tap the opportunities offered by AFTA and the stronger yen to encourage a new wave of Japanese investment into ASEAN.

The Asia-Pacific region now accounts for half of the world's trade flow. It is in our interest that ASEAN and Japan continue to cooperate and play an active role in multilateral trade organisations like APEC and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). ASEAN believes that the First WTO Ministerial Review Conference should be held in this region and in that regard has supported Singapore's offer to host the Conference.

The ASEAN-Japan relationship is maturing. Cooperation between us has deepened and broadened to include political and security dialogue. We welcome Japan's continued engagement in this region. As the world and the region enter into a period of change, we can harness the strong ASEAN-Japan ties to construct a stable and more predictable environment for this region. ASEAN encourages Japan to play a stronger role in a collective global leadership to strengthen regional stability and promote economic growth and prosperity.

Singapore's three-year term as the country-coordinator of the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue will end this month. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Your Excellency and your officials, as well as to my ASEAN colleagues, for the generous cooperation and support each one of you has given us. Thailand will now take over the coordinating task. Let me assure my Thai colleague that Singapore will extend its full assistance. We are confident that under Thailand's coordinatorship, ASEAN and Japan will cooperate even more closely to meet the challenges emerging from the rapidly evolving global and regional environment.