Strengthening ties with ASEAN a direct path to winning S&T talent — Joint research enters full swing under JST programs

If Japan is to win the competition for top talent, it must deepen its ties with the fast-growing ASEAN nations. JST is advancing international joint research and research exchange in cutting-edge fields through NEXUS (Networked Exchange, United Strength for Stronger Partnerships between Japan and ASEAN), and these activities are now in full swing. JST President Kazuhito Hashimoto commented: "Rather than looking down on partner countries as we once did in the era of development assistance, what matters is to match what each country wants to do with what Japan needs, and to move forward strategically."

ASEAN has been drawing worldwide attention in recent years, driven by its rapidly improving research standards. Singapore's National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University rank above the University of Tokyo in global university rankings, putting them on par with leading institutions in Europe and North America. Malaysia's top university, Universiti Malaya, stands on equal footing with Kyoto University, and four Malaysian universities are ranked at the level of the top 100-199; Indonesia's Universitas Indonesia ranks 189th, and Thailand's Chulalongkorn University ranks 221st-both impressive positions. The number of top-10% cited papers is also growing steadily in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

The EU holds regular EU-ASEAN Dialogues on Science, Technology and Innovation, and in 2022 adopted a plan of action to implement the Strategic Partnership at an expanded foreign ministers' meeting, in addition to holding a leaders' summit-all signs of vigorous engagement. The UK invested over £400,000 in critical technology projects with ASEAN member states in 2023, and in 2024 launched new AI-related initiatives at a ministerial meeting with ASEAN. The United States has also moved to strengthen ties, adopting ASEAN-focused plans in the science, technology, and innovation (STI) field totaling roughly $250 million. The situation has become less clear, however, since the Trump administration took office.

Building on the Joint Statement on Science, Technology, and Innovation Cooperation adopted at the China-ASEAN Summit in 2018, China formulated a China-ASEAN Plan of Action for partnership building in 2022. In 2023, it adopted the China-ASEAN Enhanced Cooperation Initiative on Science, Technology, and Innovation, and in 2025 drew up an AI capacity-building plan for ASEAN and announced the establishment of a China-ASEAN AI Application Cooperation Center.

According to a report by ISEAS (the Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore's government-linked think tank) five of the ten ASEAN nations trust China more than the United States, and trust levels toward the two powers are roughly neck-and-neck across ASEAN as a whole. Against this backdrop, Japan stands out as the most trusted country, with 66.8% of respondents expressing trust, surpassing the EU (51.9%) and the United States (47.2%). Expectations for joint research and researcher exchanges with Japan are also high.

At the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, held in 2023, then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a set of actions for "Peace and Prosperity" through co-creation based on trust. An ASEAN fund (15 billion yen) was established via a supplementary budget to strengthen a sustainable researcher network through international joint research, personnel exchange, and human resource development.

NEXUS, which operates from this fund, promotes international joint research in advanced fields, research exchanges and capacity development, and the establishment of program offices. JST and the counterpart country's Funding Agency (FA) agree on themes in advanced fields, conduct joint calls for proposals, and provide support through matched funding.

With Singapore, 10 projects were selected in the AI field from 63 applications, and 10 projects were selected in the quantum field from 27 applications. With Vietnam, 5 joint research projects in the semiconductor field were selected from 17 applications, and researcher training is also being supported; the Vietnamese side has expressed a wish to increase the number of supported projects to 10 in the next call and to expand into other fields. With Indonesia, 5 projects were selected in the bioproduction field from 38 applications. With Malaysia, 5 projects were selected in the green technology field from 128 applications; given the low adoption rate, a request was made to double the number of selected projects. At present, a total of 63 joint research projects are underway.

In the area of exchange, plans targeting individuals under 40 years of age in common priority fields with partner countries have also been adopted; to date, 90 exchange plans have been selected through calls, covering 431 outbound and 567 inbound researchers. A program office for the wider ASEAN region is also being established at the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), set up by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and coordination with relevant institutions is ongoing.

Careful Dialogue, Plans to Extend the Fund's Duration

Eriko Kishida of JST's Department of International Affairs stated: "I feel that the expectations toward Japan from each of these countries are extremely high. Coordination takes time because they each have their own distinct culture and customs, but we want to engage in careful dialogue and strengthen a sustainable researcher network as equal partners."

Building good relationships with ASEAN countries is critically important for strengthening Japan's research capabilities, attracting talent, and securing its international competitiveness. However, the fund is time-limited, running only to the end of fiscal year 2030. Hashimoto said: "We want to seize opportunities such as supplementary budget formulations to increase the fund's resources and extend the period of operation."