Support for ASEAN
Ladies and gentlemen, Japan will offer its utmost support for efforts by ASEAN member countries to ensure the security of the seas and skies and rigorously maintain freedom of navigation and overflight. Then what will Japan actually support, and how?
We have decided to provide ten new patrol vessels to the Philippine Coast Guard. We have already provided three brand-new patrol vessels to Indonesia through grant aid cooperation. And we are moving forward with the necessary survey to enable us to provide such vessels to Vietnam as well.
No less important, when hard assets are sent out from Japan, experts also follow, together with instruction in the relevant technical skills. By doing so, the bonds between the people on the Japan side and the recipient side invariably become stronger.
We also convey to the partners our sense of pride in committing ourselves to our duties. By cultivating a high degree of morale and proficiency and sharing our stringent training, buds of lasting friendship emerge.
Even if we look only at the three countries of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the number of people easily surpasses 250, who have learned from Japan about how coast guard operations should be conducted.
In 2012, when we invited to Japan higher-ranking officials within the agencies enforcing maritime law in each of the five major ASEAN countries, all throughout the month-long training period, three members of the Japan Coast Guard were assigned to each person receiving training, with all of them living eating and sleeping together under the same roof. |
