Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will map out a "new vision" of cooperation in various fields in a joint statement to be issued after a commemorative leaders' summit in Tokyo later this week, the government said Monday.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indonesian President Joko Widodo are slated to co-host the gathering on Sunday, being held to mark 50 years of friendship and cooperation between Japan and ASEAN, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a news conference.
Kishida is scheduled to host a dinner for participating ASEAN leaders on Saturday and will hold bilateral talks with them on the sidelines of the summit, the top government spokesman said.
The leaders are also set to hold a separate summit on Monday under the Asia Zero Emission Community framework launched by the Japanese government to promote decarbonization in the fast-growing Asian region, he said.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Military-ruled Myanmar was not invited to take part in the events, while East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao will join as an observer, as the bloc agreed in principle last year to admit the country as its 11th member, the Japanese government said.
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