Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura, Executive Director of ERIA was invited to the 7th Dialogue between the Federation of Japanese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in ASEAN (FJCCIA) and Secretary General of ASEAN, H.E. Mr. Le Luong Minh on June 24, 2014 in Manila, Philippines.

Purpose of this Dialogue initiated in 2008 is to facilitate mutual coordination and contribute to regional economic development while improving business environments for Japanese enterprises through dialogue with the ASEAN Secretariat.

This year's dialogue showed key prioritized sectors and items to be focused at the final stage towards realization of the AEC over the two years from 2014 to 2015 and submitted requests for post 2015.

H.E. Mr. Le Luong Minh, Secretary General of ASEAN appreciated the Dialogue, saying that all views and requests from FJCCIA are valuable inputs for ASEAN towards achieving AEC 2015 and beyond.

Responding to the issues and requests presented by FJCCIA to Secretary General of ASEAN, Prof. Nishimura provided ERIA's thoughts of key areas, namely non-tariff measures (NTMs), trade facilitation, SME development, and industrial clusters and technology, especially focusing on post 2015.

He also highlighted the importance of "Responsive ASEAN" to maintain the ambition and accelerate the momentum post 2015, saying that "at the base of Responsive ASEAN is the basic assumption that it is the private sector which is the key motor of a sustained high and equitable growth in ASEAN".

The results of the Dialogue will be reported to ASEAN-Japan Economic Ministers Meeting which will be held in August in Myanmar.