The ASEAN-Japan Centre is an intergovernmental organization established by the Association of Southeast Asian Nation member states and Japan in 1981, serving as a bridge between the two parties for 40 years. It has been promoting exports from ASEAN member states to Japan while revitalizing investment and tourism, as well as people-to-people exchanges between ASEAN members and Japan through seminars, webinars, workshops, capacity-building programs, research and policy analysis, cross-cultural events and publication and information services, among others.
The ASEAN chairmanship rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the names of the member states. This year, Brunei Darussalam is the chair of ASEAN under the theme, “We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper.” Brunei will be hosting the ASEAN Summit and has been holding related summits as well as a number of other official meetings despite the difficulties and challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
