
Japan's CEAPAD a unique platform for Palestine's capacity building, long-term development
The conference, scheduled to take place here Friday, will be held in conjunction with the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) and related meetings.
Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Noriyuki Shikata said CEAPAD stands apart from other forums by focusing on long-term solutions, including institutional resilience, education, and economic self-reliance for the Palestinian people.
He noted that Japan has long collaborated with institutional organisations such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the World Bank to support institutional development in Palestine.
'CEAPAD is a unique platform. While the situation in Palestine is often addressed in political or humanitarian terms, this forum focuses on what comes after, on capacity building and institutional strengthening.
'Japan has been working with UNRWA, the World Bank, and other institutional organisations to help Palestinians, and CEAPAD complements those efforts by bringing in perspectives and expertise from East Asian countries,' he told Bernama in an exclusive interview recently.
He added that Japan, as the initiator of CEAPAD in 2013, is committed to working with partners like Malaysia to coordinate recovery and reconstruction, particularly amid the current devastation in Gaza.
'Given the scale of destruction, it is crucial that we help the Palestinian people rebuild their lives with dignity. Malaysia has been a consistent CEAPAD participant since the beginning, and we value this shared commitment to the Palestinian cause,' he said.
CEAPAD IV will also be attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who will be in Malaysia in conjunction with the ASEAN meetings.
Malaysia's ongoing participation in CEAPAD since its inception reflects its longstanding commitment to the Palestinian cause.
The first CEAPAD meeting, held in Tokyo and co-hosted by Japan and Palestine, laid the groundwork for East Asian collaboration, with Malaysia among the founding participants.
Elaborating further, Shikata highlighted the potential for triangular cooperation between Japan, Malaysia and Palestine in training and human resource development.
'For example, if Palestinian evacuees come to Malaysia, we may be able to support training programmes for their future,' he said, adding that education and skills-building are essential for long-term peace and stability.
He said CEAPAD also serves as a broader bridge between regions — bringing together East Asian expertise and resources with Middle Eastern needs and partnerships — to enable more coordinated and effective development efforts.
Japan's development approach, he added, is grounded in the belief that peace must be supported by strong institutions and inclusive growth — areas CEAPAD directly targets.
Japan became ASEAN's first dialogue partner in 1973, formalising the partnership in 1977.
Over the decades, Japan has steadily expanded its engagement with ASEAN, joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in 2004, appointing a dedicated ambassador to ASEAN in 2010, and establishing its permanent mission in Jakarta the following year.
In 2023, ASEAN and Japan elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, reflecting Tokyo's enduring support for ASEAN centrality and regional cooperation across political, economic and socio-cultural pillars.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
21 minutes ago
- The Star
Singapore data centre NTT DC REIT to raise around $773 million from IPO
FILE PHOTO: An SGX sign is pictured at Singapore Stock Exchange July 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore data centre real estate investment trust NTT DC REITintends to raise gross proceeds of around $773 million from its initial public offering on the domestic bourse, it said on Monday. NTT DC REIT,whose sponsor or backer, NTT Ltd is part of Japanese telecommunication giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), has six data centres located in Austria, Singapore and the United States, which its statement on Monday said were valued at $1.57 billion in total. The initial public offering, expected on July 14, will comprise 599.89 million units priced at $1.00 per unit, or S$1.276 per unit, the statement said. It said cornerstone investors, which are large institutional investors that subscribe to an IPO offering before it is open to the public, collectively hold a 16.8% stake. Among the cornerstone investors are Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC with a 9.8% stake, making it second largest investor after NTT Ltd, which has 25%, according to the statement. (Reporting by Yong Jun Yuan and Yantoultra Ngui; editing by Barbara Lewis)

Barnama
2 hours ago
- Barnama
Rubber Market Ends Lower, Tracks Regional Losses And Oil Decline
By K. Naveen Prabu KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian rubber market closed lower on Monday, tracking losses in regional rubber futures and a decline in crude oil prices, a dealer said. She said Japanese rubber futures slipped in tandem with falling oil prices. 'Oil prices fell on Monday after OPEC+ surprised markets by announcing a larger-than-expected output increase for August,' she told Bernama. At the time of writing, Brent crude was down 0.13 per cent to US$68.21 per barrel. She added that market sentiment was also weighed by uncertainty over United States trade tariffs and the on-going conflict in the Middle East. However, further losses were capped by a weaker ringgit against the US dollar and signs of recovery in the automotive sector. 'It was reported that production and sales in the automobile industry rebounded both month-on-month and year-on-year in the first half of 2025,' she said. At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) fell by 11.0 sen to 700.00 sen per kilogramme, while latex in bulk dropped 6.0 sen to 565.50 sen per kilogramme.


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Indonesia's top negotiator to visit US ahead of tariff deadline: Official
JAKARTA: Indonesia's senior economic minister Airlangga Hartarto (pic), the country's main negotiator in US. tariff talks, is scheduled to go to the United States on Monday (July 7), an official told Reuters. Airlangga is currently in Brazil accompanying President Prabowo Subianto for the Brics conference, but is scheduled to go to the United States afterwards to oversee tariff negotiations ahead of the July 9 deadline, said Haryo Limanseto, spokesperson at the coordinating ministry for economic affairs. The largest economy in South-East Asia is facing a 32% tariff in US markets and Jakarta has offered to cut duties to near-zero on US main goods. To smoothe tariff talks, it has also proposed US investment in its critical minerals and offered to import more US products. A US$34 billion trade deal between Indonesian companies - including state carrier Garuda and noodle making giant Indofood - and US partners was expected to be signed on Monday, but the exact time has not yet been disclosed, Indofood director Franciscus Welirang told Reuters on Monday. Indofood together with other members of Indonesia's wheat flour mills association have agreed to buy two million tonnes of US wheat worth $500 million. The United States is Indonesia's second largest export market after China, with a total value of $28.1 billion in goods shipped to the United States in 2024, according to US. Trade Representative. The South-East Asian country ran a $17.9 billion goods trade surplus with the United States last year. US tariffs could reduce Indonesia's potential growth by 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has warned. The government has adjusted Indonesia's 2025's GDP outlook downwards to a range of between 4.7% and 5.0%, compared to an earlier target of 5.2%. - Reuters