Message from Prime Minister Hashimoto to the People of Brunei Darussalam

A Prosperous, Stable, and Caring Future for All

Dear People of Brunei Darussalam,

It is indeed a pleasure to be able to start the New Year by visiting your country as you prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Since its establishment in 1967, the ASEAN has played a vital role in promoting political stability and economic prosperity throughout the region. Japan as well has worked to contribute to peace and prosperity in Asia. In recent decades, this heart-to-heart cooperation with our neighbors has built the foundation that has made the entire region a world-class center of economic growth. The unmistakable success of ASEAN nations over the past 30 years is a source of great happiness for me and for all Japanese.

I believe that the coming years will give us many opportunities to work together even more closely: as partners to promote regional cooperation, and as friends to create an even more prosperous, stable, and mutually caring future for the entire region. Working together, we can build a better world for the next generation and beyond. I am looking forward with great pleasure to my visit to your country.

Ryutaro Hashimoto
Prime Minister of Japan

Participants from Brunei in the
1996 Ship for Southeast Asian
Youth Program

A Voyage of Mutual Discovery

The Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program is just one example of the kind of person-to-person cultural exchange we hope to promote. The Program, inaugurated in 1974, offers young people from Japan and seven Southeast Asian countries (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) the opportunity to live together onboard for 65 days. During the course of its voyage, the Ship calls on destinations in each of the seven countries, and participants engage in shipboard discussions, cultural exchange, sports, and recreation, in addition to homestays, volunteer activities, and goodwill exchange in each port of call. Brunei Darussalam has been a participant in this program since 1985. About 450 young Bruneians have so far participated in the Program, and many Bruneian families have extended their hospitality as homestay families.

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