ASEAN and Japan first established informal dialogue relations in 1973, which was later formalized in March 1977 with the convening of the ASEAN-Japan Forum. Since then, significant progress has been made in ASEAN-Japan relations and cooperation in the areas of political security, economic-finance and socio-culture.
The relationship between ASEAN and Japan continues to grow.
And Japan continues to help the ASEAN region through various instrumentalities and one of them is through educational institutions.
In this exclusive ASEAN in Focus interview, we talk to the Vice-President of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies or GRIPS based in Tokyo which is helping in the field of policy studies, helping future policy leaders and researchers from all over the world, including those from the ASEAN member nations.
Professor James Richard Rhodes who is also an expert on macroeconomics and Japanese monetary and fiscal policies, talks about GRIPS and also about his views about ASEAN integration and how the Japanese experience can be a point of learning for the ASEAN integration, and for the path of economic development of the 10 ASEAN member states.
Professor Rhodes, as the vice-president in charge of International Crisis Management, also supervised the GRIPS response to the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 in all areas related to international students.