| Izah Azahari |
THE Japanese Ministry of Defence is conducting its second Japan-ASEAN Ship Rider Cooperation Programme from May 10-15 on board the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) vessel Osumi, cruising from the Republic of Indonesia to Malaysia as part of an initiative under the ‘Vientiane Vision’.
This was revealed by Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam, Motohiko Kato during a briefing on the programme at the Embassy of Japan in Kampong Kiarong yesterday.
According to the ambassador, the ‘Vientiane Vision’ was announced by Japan at the second ASEAN-Japan Defence Ministers’ Informal Meeting in Vientiane, Lao PDR on November 2016. Based on the vision’s guiding principles, the programme will contribute to regional stability by providing opportunities for participants to build mutual understanding between each other and professional networks, enhance capabilities relating to maritime security, and share knowledge on the International Law of the Sea.
The programme, Ambassador Kato added, is conducted under the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’, focussing on the aspect of promoting free and open oceans and maritime security, which is indispensable for peace and prosperity in the region.
Participants of the programme, 10 in total, comprise junior navy officers from all of the ASEAN member states, including Lt Dya Mohamad Akmal Waqiuddin bin Mohamad Japin from the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN).
The programme includes seminars on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, and International Law of the Sea, and it gives the participants the chance to observe various training activities.
Touching further on the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’, the ambassador explained that the policy is a diplomatic initiative that takes a panoramic perspective of the world map and a proactive stance to peace, based on the principle of international cooperation as well as the accomplishments of the Abe administration, adding that Japan intends to improve and expand further on these diplomatic concepts.
The strategy is viewed as key for the stability and prosperity of the international community, due to the dynamism created through the union of two vast continents – the rapidly growing Asia and Africa, which possesses huge growth potential – via the Indian Ocean.
Japan’s investment in the strategy is part of a wider goal of broadening the horizons of its foreign policy, and it has committed to further promoting infrastructure development, trade and investment, enhancing the region’s business environment, human development and connectivity within ASEAN.
It will also help ASEAN spill over its economic success to other regions such as the Middle East and Africa.
Other cooperation projects under the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’ in Brunei include the promotion of the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the seas and free trade among Brunei youths such as the JENESYS Peacebuilding programme; the co-hosting of the Japan and UK Joint Workshop on Cyber-Security and hosting of the Japan-ASEAN Joint Working Group Information Security Meeting in Brunei in February 2018; and the hosting of the Japan-ASEAN Counterterrorism Dialogue and Cyber Crime Dialogue in Brunei in August 2018.
On capacity building with regard to peace and stability in the seas, maritime law enforcement, and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) cooperation, among other related areas, joint activities and projects that have been initiated between Brunei and Japan include annual calls by JMSDF ships at Muara Port; invitations to seminars hosted by the JMSDF (Multinational Seminar at the JMSDF Command and Staff College) as well as seminars hosted by the Land SDF; training of young RBN naval officers by the JMSDF; cooperation to promote the ‘Vientiane Vision’ such as invitations of Brunei youth to the Ship Rider Cooperation Programme; and the conducting of high-level personal exchanges between Bruneian and Japanese defence officials in January 2018.
“Under the Japan-ASEAN Ship Rider Cooperation Programme, the junior officers from the ASEAN member countries will be able to establish a deeper understanding, cooperation and friendship among them, and familiarise themselves with the ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’,” said the ambassador.
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