Saturday’s Yomiuri took up a speech by Foreign Minister Motegi at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on Friday in which he mentioned Japan’s plan to enhance cooperation with ASEAN members to create a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The minister said Tokyo will cooperate with ASEAN in such areas as maritime security, free trade, public health, and disaster prevention. Motegi also met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and other senior officials to confirm bilateral coordination. According to Nikkei, Motegi and the Indonesian foreign minister agreed to convene a bilateral 2+2 foreign and defense ministerial meeting later this year.