ASEAN is currently attracting much attention as a major growth center in the global economy. With a market of more than 600 million people and an abundant young labor force, whose working-age population will peak in the second half of the 2040s, ASEAN has achieved remarkable economic growth with its GDP expanding threefold over the past ten years. As the ASEAN region has grown economically, Japan-ASEAN economic relations have steadily deepened.