Parliamentary Vice-Minister Munekiyo Attends Second ASEAN-Japan Smart Cities Network High Level Meeting

1. Overview of the second high level meeting

Following on from the first high level meeting in 2019, the second high level meeting was hosted by MLIT, by video conference this time. This meeting brought together the Secretary-General of ASEAN , representatives of 10 ASEAN Member States, including vice-minister and director-general level officials responsible for infrastructure, those of the 26 cities chosen for the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN)* and those of Japanese companies, municipalities and governmental organizations, aiming to encourage these economies and cities to cooperate further through ASCN. The high level meeting provided briefings on cooperation efforts between ASEAN cities and Japan, explanations of outstanding case examples of efforts by Japanese companies and cities, business matching events between ASEAN cities and Japanese companies and other occasions.

*Note: The ASCN is an initiative launched by ASEAN, which was inaugurated under the leadership of Singapore, the 2018 ASEAN chair. The initiative aims to promote a variety of projects in collaboration with private companies and non-ASEAN countries, targeting 26 cities selected from cities in 10 ASEAN Member States.

2. Speech by Parliamentary Vice-Minister Munekiyo (video message)

At the opening ceremony of the high level meeting, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Munekiyo delivered a speech in the form of a video message as one of the representatives of the government of Japan, and he explained METI’s support measures for propelling the smart city projects, such as a feasibility study on quality infrastructures and international demonstration projects by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). He also expressed his hopes for further expansion of ASEAN-Japan cooperation, referring to case examples of Japan’s cooperation initiatives and rule-making for data flows in ASEAN Member States.

Division in Charge

Trade Finance Division, Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau