CEAPAD V Scheduled For October During ASEAN Summit -- Japan’s MOFA

By Nabilah Saleh & Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 (Bernama) --  The Fifth Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD V) is scheduled to take place in October, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

The announcement follows the successful convening of CEAPAD IV, which was held alongside the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and related meetings, as part of Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship.

Co-chaired by Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya, and Palestine’s Planning and International Cooperation Minister Dr Estephan Salameh, the CEAPAD IV discussions focused on capacity-building, critical infrastructure redevelopment in Palestine, and the effective provision of comprehensive humanitarian assistance.

CEAPAD is a regional framework initiated by Japan in 2013 to support Palestinian state-building efforts by mobilising the economic development experience and expertise of East Asian countries.

In a statement shared with Bernama, Japan’s MOFA underscored that CEAPAD was launched long before the current conflict in Gaza, and is not a response to any geopolitical vacuum.

“This initiative was initiated by the Japanese government in 2013, long before this Gaza tragedy. 

“At the time, we believed that the two-state solution is quite important, and since ASEAN countries have developed successfully in terms of the economy, we can mobilise their expertise in Asian economic development to support the nation-building effort of the current new authorities,” said the ministry.

The ministry said CEAPAD is not the kind of instrument to respond to the vacuum of the US. 

“It started much earlier than the Gaza incident. But after the October 2023 Gaza strike, the Palestinian people are suffering from a humanitarian crisis and have a huge need for reconstruction and recovery,” it added.

The ministry further said Japan intends to work closely with ASEAN, particularly with Malaysia as co-host, for the upcoming CEAPAD summit.

“We are now trying to work together with ASEAN countries, especially Malaysia, who kindly accepted to co-host this semester’s meeting. 

“We are going to hold the summit meeting sometime in October at the margin of the ASEAN meeting, and we would like to mobilise your power, your knowledge, your expertise, in support of their reconstruction,” said Japan’s MOFA.

The ministry said Japan reaffirmed its commitment to collaborate with ASEAN on both humanitarian and regional security matters.

CEAPAD IV marks the first time the conference was hosted in Malaysia. The previous session was held in Bangkok in 2018.

Current CEAPAD members include Japan, Palestine, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

--  BERNAMA