KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 -- Chairman Asean Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), Tan Sri Dr Mohd Munir Abdul Majid is delivering a speech during Asean Business Advisory Council Malaysia Conference on SMEs and the AEC at Hilton Hotel here, today. -- fotoBERNAMA (2014) COPY RIGHT RESERVED
KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean Business Club (ABC), together with the Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-BAC), is cooperating with nine Japanese business associations to form the Asean-Japan Innovation Network (AJIN).
In a statement on Friday, it said AJIN is a business network between Asean and Japan to nurture new industries, facilitate business collaboration through networking, research and policy proposals to policymakers.
A signing ceremony for the memorandum of cooperation (MOC) was held in Tokyo on Friday on the sidelines of the Asean Economic Ministers roadshow, held from April 6 to 8.
The MOC is meant to strengthen such ties through economic cooperation.
ABC president Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid said: “AJIN is a network of over 1.2 million members and businesses from Japan and Asean.
“The network’s collective strengths and resources will help spearhead innovation in Asean, providing an effective platform for dialogues, and eventually, opportunities for joint projects.”
AJIN was spearheaded by the Asean-Japan Business Council and supported by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan.
The move was also in response to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s call for stronger economic ties between Japan and Asean, at the Japan-Asean Summit Meeting held in Laos in September 2016.
Abe suggested that this could be achieved through the strengthening of supply chains and the connectivity of hard and soft infrastructure, and supporting the creation of new industries by utilising Japanese technology through the “Asean-Japan Innovation Network”.
“Most importantly, the small and medium-sized enterprises of Asean may benefit from the best practices of Japanese companies in this network, whose collective expertise could be leveraged on to leapfrog their growth,” said Munir.
The ABC is a fully private sector driven initiative of Asean’s leading businesses, that came together in support of regional economic integration, while providing a platform for networking. - Bernama
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