Mr. Yasuo Hozaki, Executive Officer and Director General of Overseas Business Bureau at West Nippon Expressway Company Ltd. (NEXCO-West) visited ERIA and exchanged opinions with Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura, Executive Director of ERIA on January 28,2013.

Mr. Hozaki, exchanged opinions with Prof. Nishimura regarding the development of logistic infrastructure in ASEAN countries. NEXCO-West is a key player of overseas toll road development and its operation in East Asian countries while ERIA provides analysis and criteria to logistic infrastructure by using "IDE/ERIA Geographic Simulation Model (GSM)". NEXCO appreciated ERIA's GSM analysis for the logistic infrastructure impacts on regional economies, which gives objective criteria to policy makers to judge the importance of proposed projects.

Mr. Hozaki and Prof. Nishimura agreed on the views that ASEAN countries are facing common issues of "industrial development, proper logistic infrastructure and urban traffic jams" which gives huge economic impact to the ASEAN countries and also agreed on the necessity of cooperation on this matter between ERIA and NEXCO-West.