Hanoi (VNA) – President of the JapanInternational Cooperation Agency (JICA) Kitaoka Shinichi discussed cooperation plansbetween JICA and ASEAN countries, especially in infrastructure, in a recentinterview with reporters from the bloc on the occasion of celebrating its 50thfounding anniversary.

Over the years, the Japanese Government hassupported the enhancement of cooperation between JICA and ASEAN, he said,adding that Japan has become a leading provider of official developmentassistance (ODA) for ASEAN, and is the second largest trade and investmentpartner of the association.

He cited JICA statistics that Japan has poured about 16 trillion JPY into ASEAN countries,contributed to economic growth and poverty reduction in the bloc and supportedits member nations to reach United Nations (UN) targets.

Japan has also contributed to the development ofthe bloc via infrastructure development and cooperation in finance, technologyand human resources development, he said.

With the assistance of JICA, many ASEANcountries have reached encouraging economic growth such as Vietnam (6.47percent), Thailand (4.98 percent), and Indonesia (3.86 percent).

ASEAN is one of the most dynamic and influentialmarkets in Asian-Pacific and the world, Kitaoka said, stressing that Japan willfocus on supporting this association.

JICA plans to enhance support for ASEANcountries to increase competitiveness when joining the free trade agreementwith China, he said.

JICA also pledged to support economicconnectivity in the ASEAN community and help ASEAN nations complete legalregulations and human resources development, he added.

He went on to say that JICA will provide moretechnical assistance from Japanese private sectors and from universities,research centres and local authorities to support ASEAN nations.

The support will focus on boosting high qualitygrowth, promoting the ASEAN Community, maintaining and developing the freetrade system and sharing knowledge, he said.

He noted that JICA has supported Vietnam infinance and economy with projects on tax management reform, capacityenhancement for consumption law and policy and intellectual property, alongwith enhancing capability for business financial management to restructureState-run businesses and supporting the reshuffling of the banking system.

Additionally, JICA has helped Vietnam strengthencompetitiveness of industry, develop human resources and improve the investmentenvironment, he added.-VNA