Yoshikuni Ohnishi Secretary General

Many issues were raised in FY2008 on the need to bring the continuing reform of the ASEAN-Japan Centre to reality starting in this FY2009 onwards. Accordingly, we would like to further deepen and widen the partnership between ASEAN and Japan with fresh perspectives.

The challenges given to the Centre are diverse. Among them are for some of the senior positions of the organization to be filled up under the open recruitment process; downgrading of the Permanent Exhibition Hall (PEH); relocation of the Centre from Ginza; and strengthening the communication lines between the Secretariat and each of the ASEAN countries.

Consequently, the position of the Secretary General, among others, was filled up under the open recruitment process; the office was relocated to Onarimon (Shimbashi); and the PEH has now been renamed the “ASEAN-Japan Hall” as a new multi-purpose hall. We will be fully utilizing this hall to conduct conferences, meetings, seminars and exhibitions based on our mission to promote ASEAN trade, investment and tourism, as well as to provide opportunities for, among others, young generation to learn about the significance of the ASEAN-Japan relations.

There is no doubt that our activities require efficiency, transparency and accountability. Therefore, the Centre’s annual reports and the financial statements will be uploaded to our new website, which will be launched this summer.

Our keywords in this period of change are “trust” and “dialogue”. With these two keywords as the basic foundation for change, you can expect the ASEAN-Japan Centre to evolve its broad range of activities in light of dynamically-changing needs and requirement of member countries.

I look forward to your continued support and cooperation.

April 2009