[Title] Joint Statement of the 23rd ASEAN-Japan Summit on Cooperation on ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific

WE, the Heads of State/Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan, held the 23rd ASEAN-Japan Summit via videoconference on 12 November 2020. The Summit was chaired by H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Viet Nam and attended by all Heads of State/Government of ASEAN Member States and H.E. Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan.

REAFFIRMING our commitment to enhancing the ASEAN-Japan Strategic Partnership for mutual benefit, as stated in the Vision Statement on ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in 2013 and the Joint Statement of the 21st ASEAN-Japan Summit to Commemorate the 45th Anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation in 2018;

NOTING the substantive progress in and further reaffirming our commitment to the full and effective implementation of the Revised Implementation Plan of the Vision Statement on ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation: Shared Vision, Shared Identity, Shared Future, adopted in Manila, Philippines on 6 August 2017;

RECALLING the shared view to promote a rules-based Indo-Pacific region that is free and open, embraces key principles such as ASEAN's unity and centrality, inclusiveness, transparency and complements ASEAN community building process;

ACKNOWLEDGING ASEAN's central and strategic role in developing and shaping an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture;

REAFFIRMING the objectives and principles of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) which provides a guide for ASEAN's engagement in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions, while encouraging external partners to work with ASEAN to undertake practical cooperation on the four key areas identified in the AOIP;

NOTING that both the AOIP and Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) concept share relevant fundamental principles in promoting peace and cooperation;

WELCOMING Japan's support for and cooperation with ASEAN through the AOIP with a view to promoting mutual trust, mutual respect, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation, as well as contributing to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.

DO HEREBY DECLARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Commit to supporting ASEAN Community building and enhancing further the ASEAN-Japan Strategic Partnership for peace, stability and prosperity in the region;

2. Strengthen cooperation through the full and effective implementation of the ASEAN-Japan Revised Implementation Plan by utilising ASEAN-Japan mechanisms and in ASEAN-Ied mechanisms, and advancing initiatives, including the Agreement on Technical Cooperation between ASEAN and the Government of Japan in 2019, the Initiative on Overseas Loan and Investment for ASEAN in 2019, the ASEAN-Japan Economic Resilience Action Plan in 2020, and the Dialogue for Innovative and Sustainable Growth in 2020, in addition to existing cooperation mechanisms such as the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes (grants, loans and technical cooperation) and the ASEAN-Japan Centre;

3. Support the principles of strengthening ASEAN Centrality, openness, transparency, inclusivity, a rules-based framework, good governance, respect for sovereignty, nonintervention, complementarity with existing cooperation frameworks, equality, mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit and respect for international law, such as UN Charter, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and other relevant UN treaties and conventions, the ASEAN Charter and various ASEAN treaties and agreements and the EAS Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations (2011), which form the basis of the AOIP;

4. Further reinforce ASEAN-Japan Strategic Partnership through enhanced practical cooperation and synergy in the four areas as outlined in the AOIP, namely, maritime cooperation, connectivity, UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, and economic and other possible areas of cooperation, including but not limited to the following:

- Maritime security;

- Marine plastic debris;

- Quality infrastructure, through supporting the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025;

- Support for the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN);

- People to people connectivity;

- Sustainable development, including support for narrowing the development gap in ASEAN;

- Digital economy and the 4th Industrial Revolution;

- Environment and disaster management, and the impact of climate change;

- Mitigation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and public health emergencies, and support ASEAN's initiatives on COVID-19, including, among others, the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework, and the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund;

- Strengthening economic resilience;

- Human security including public health and food security; and

- Human capital development.

Adopted in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, this Twelfth of November in the Year Two Thousand and Twenty.