ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses both the political and economic aspects of Japan’s relationship with the five countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Japan’s trade relations with the ASEAN countries have not changed substantially since the 1960s. The importance of ASEAN to Japan is underscored by the fact that the region is Japan’s major supplier for several raw materials: for example, natural rubber, tin, lumber, copper, bauxite, nickel, and wood. In 1977 ASEAN jointly sought to negotiate with Japan and other OECD members the subjects of product coverage, depth of tariff cuts, and rules of origin. In addition to trade, investment has become an increasingly important link in Japanese-ASEAN relations. Aid from Japan constitutes about 40 percent of the total aid ASEAN receives and a considerably larger percentage of official development assistance received.
