Jakarta, 7 February 2024: ERIA briefed ambassadors of ASEAN and dialogue partners on its past achievements and ongoing activities at the ASEAN Secretariat. The event aimed to update the diplomatic community, especially ASEAN, East Asia, and dialogue partners, on ERIA’s development, research, and future activities.

In his opening remarks, Tetsuya Watanabe, the President of ERIA, reiterated that ERIA would like to become a truly visionary organisation that is relevant and impactful to policymakers, adding that the Institute will continue to play an active role in promoting sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economic growth in the region.

During the presentation of ERIA’s activities, Dr Aladdin D Rillo, Senior Economic Advisor, touched on the support to the Indonesian ASEAN chair in 2023 and the 26th ASEAN-Japan Summit last December. He pointed out that ERIA assisted the chair in preparing various frameworks and workshops including the ASEAN Service Facilitation Framework, the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Strengthening Food Security, and the ASEAN Blue Economy Framework, among others.

Regarding the outcome of the 26th ASEAN-Japan Summit, Dr Rillo said that ERIA expressed its readiness to collaborate as a policy research centre and facilitator in these priority areas—zero-emission, decarbonisation of supply chains, and human resource development.

Jeremy Gross, Director of Capacity Building, later gave a brief overview of the Lao Chairmanship and ERIA’s current assistance for the country. He said there are three main thrusts of the chair’s priority economic deliverables—integrating and connecting economies, forging an inclusive and sustainable future, and transforming for a digital future.

In his presentation, Gross highlighted the strengthening of supply chain connectivity which, in his view, will maintain the credibility of current supply chains in the region and improve the flow of goods and services between countries connected by cross-country supply chains. He said this should lower transaction costs and give more room for economic growth.

Before the meeting wrapped up, the participants toured the facility of ERIA Digital Innovation and Sustainable Economic Centre (E-DISC), which was set up to meet the challenges of digital transformation within the region.

Additionally, E-DISC is committed to building a strong and responsible digital transformation in ASEAN and East Asia. It will also facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing, and initiatives that harness the powers of digital technology.