The 7th Dialogue between the ASEAN Secretary-General and the Federation of Japanese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in ASEAN (FJCCIA) will be held in June in the Philippines.

According to a press release by the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh met with Setsuo Iuchi, Chief Representative for ASEAN and South Asia of Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) on April 15 to discuss preparations for the event.

The Dialogue will discuss the follow-up to issues and recommendations raised by the Japanese business community as well as provide them an opportunity to share their views and inputs on the ASEAN post-2015 scenario.

This annual event has been held since its commencement in 2008 and provides a forum for Japanese businesses to raise issues on ASEAN economic integration.

Also at the meeting, both sides exchanged views on the current progress of ASEAN integration and discussed issues of key importance to Japanese investors in the integration process.

These include customs procedures, liberalisation of services, protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), ASEAN+1 FTAs, harmonisation of standards, infrastructure development, and small and medium enterprise (SME) development.

Japan is the second largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to ASEAN after the EU, and remains the second largest trading partner of the grouping.-VNA