The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan mark the 40th anniversary of their cooperative relations this year. ASEAN and Japan's partnership, which began with the establishment of the ASEAN-Japan forum on synthetic rubber, has evolved over the 40 years. The two parties have formed close cooperation toward peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia. The business partnership has also expanded steadily, with total bilateral trade amounting to $248 billion in 2011, according to the Foreign Ministry. ASEAN member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — are major investment destinations for Japanese companies. In 2013, Japan and ASEAN member states are holding a number of exchange projects on topics ranging from political dialogue and economy, to culture, youth and tourism. With that in mind, The Japan Times held a forum to discuss relationship between Japan and some of the Southeast Asian countries. Participating in the event were Indonesian Ambassador Muhammad Lutfi, Malaysian Ambassador Datuk Md. Som Shaharuddin, Philippine Ambassador Manuel Lopez and Thai Ambassador Thanatip Upatising, joined by Yoshikuni Onishi, secretary general of the ASEAN-Japan Center, and Japan Times Executive Operating Officer and Managing Editor Takashi Kitazume, who served as the moderator. The forum was held in two parts. The first session discussed the broad economic relations between Japan and the Southeast Asian countries, and the second session dealt with person-to-person exchanges between the two parties. Excerpts of their discussion follow:

Moderator: Let me briefly explain the purpose of the forum. 2013 marks the 40th year since Japan and ASEAN officially kicked off their cooperative relations in 1973. Japan and Southeast Asian countries have since gone through a long history of deepening economic relations.

At one point, Japan was deemed a model of economic development for many of the Southeast Asian countries, and the so-called flying geese model of economic development for Southeast Asia was touted as Japan and the region deepened their trade and investment relations.