Background and History

Since 1999, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and designated government agencies among the original ASEAN member countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) have organized Regional Meetings for Mutual Consultation on the Third Country Training Program (hereafter "TCTP Meeting"), for the purpose of improving implementation efficiency and promoting an information network for better course management of TCTP. Meanwhile, CLMV Regional Meetings (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam) , arranged in collaboration with JICA Thailand Office, have been held to promote proactive cooperation as well as encourage initiatives among the four countries, through seminars and training based on the CLMV Common Agenda for Development. Vietnam held "CLMV Investment Promotion Seminar" in Hanoi (October 2001) and Lao PDR arranged "CLMV ICT Seminar" in Vientiane (October 2002). In November 2003 "CLMV Aviation Seminar" was conducted by Cambodia.

Subsequently the designated government agencies among the original ASEAN member countries were of the view that the CLMV countries should be invited to the TCTP meeting in order to discuss not only how to improve TCTP but also how to promote regional cooperation within the framework of JICA's cooperation schemes among ASEAN countries. The designated government agencies among the original ASEAN member countries agreed to invite the CLMV countries as official participants, and Timor-Leste as an observer, to the "Meeting to Promote Regional Cooperation through JICA's Program among ASEAN Countries" in Kuala Lumpur (July 2002). During the meeting, the original ASEAN member countries and CLMV countries all agreed to merge the two different regional meetings into one. The merged meeting was then officially entitled "First Meeting to Promote Regional Cooperation through JICA's Program among ASEAN Countries." To achieve the cooperation goal, the meeting agreed by consensus to set a common regional cooperation mechanism of request survey cycle.

In October 2003, the "Second Meeting to Promote Regional Cooperation through JICA's Program among ASEAN Countries" was held in Vientiane, Lao P.D.R. This meeting marked another epoch for the following two reasons. Firstly, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially endorsed the meeting, and the Japanese Embassy in Lao P.D.R. participated in the meeting on behalf of the Ministry. Secondly, the meeting started seeking feasible ways to contribute to the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), which is in line with the concept of the meeting, i.e., narrowing development gaps among ASEAN countries. In this regard the IAI Unit of ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Department of the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lao P.D.R., and the ASEAN Unit of the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia were also invited to discuss relevant issues with the participants. During the meeting, the regional cooperation mechanism was modified and finalized. It was also decided, in order to sustain effective implementation of the regional cooperation mechanism, that the meeting would be organized on an annual basis, and JICA Thailand Office was designated to be the coordinating body of the meeting.

Due to the long name of the meeting, JICA Cambodia Office and JICA Thailand Office jointly took an initiative to adopt a simpler and more acceptable name for the meeting. After consultation with the member countries, a new name was adopted prior to the third meeting, i.e., JICA-ASEAN Regional Cooperation Meeting (JARCOM).