cybersecurity exercises for the Indo-Pacific region, including ASEAN member states, in cooperation with the United States and Europe, in order to improve the cybersecurity capability for entire supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region and strengthen cooperation with each country. In addition, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has launched country-specific support in Indonesia, Vietnam, and elsewhere to address unique issues and challenges faced by each country. In particular, the technical cooperation project started in 2019 in Indonesia is being conducted as an industry-government-academia effort beyond an intergovernmental framework to advance capacity building support. In this project, JICA teams up with local universities to support human resources development for critical infrastructure operators. In recent years, infrastructure development and digitalization have been advancing among ASEAN member states, driven by growing economies and government capabilities. As a result, support for measures targeting the critical infrastructure field that includes the private sector is becoming increasingly important. Moreover, gaps in cybersecurity capabilities have been widening among countries in the region. Given these circumstances, it is vital going forward to enhance support for measures targeting the critical infrastructure field, etc. through public-private collaboration including Japanese businesses with strengths in infrastructure, etc., and to reinforce training for companies of the target country, with respect to countries with relatively advanced capabilities. The role required of the Japanese government in this effort is to cooperate with the governments of each country, and to promote initiatives pursued by private businesses in a way that supports local cybersecurity policies. In order to advance continuous measures through private activities, it is necessary to ensure that the support is devised in alignment with the free management decision of private businesses. Moreover, in order to advance such initiatives effectively, it is necessary to understand the cybersecurity needs of ASEAN and other regions, and to arrange a framework that enables optimal measures to be provided making full use of Japan’s resources. As for countries and regions with relatively more room for capacity building, it is necessary to continue to provide support for government agencies, using framework such as Mekong-Japan cooperation and BIMP-EAGA+Japan, while collaborating with relatively advanced countries in the ASEAN region and like-minded countries outside the region. Taking this into account, we will enhance future activities related to AJCCBC by collaborating with like-minded countries and other third parties. In addition, we will move forward to further increase training options to enable ASEAN member states to independently conduct exercises, and to diversify our activities in light of local demands. At the same time, while there are increasing numbers of support frameworks targeting the ASEAN region as a whole by European countries and US, the need for country-specific support tailored to each country’s capabilities, such as the kind provided by JICA, is growing, so we will continue to enhance support accordingly. (b) Regions other than ASEAN Based on the experience we have cultivated to date through support for ASEAN member states and interstate relations with the region, we will enhance support in regions other than ASEAN, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region (Asia, Oceania, etc.). For the meantime, for example, we will continue to carry out the industrial control systems cyber security exercises for the Indo-Pacific region in cooperation with the United States and Europe provided by METI and ICSCoE, as well as implementing country-specific support tailored to each country’s capabilities, such as the kind provided by JICA. In selecting the countries to be supported, we will take various factors into consideration, including the status of activities of Japanese businesses, geographic importance in terms of telecommunication network nodes, and status of support by like-minded countries and international organizations, and focus on countries where we can expect the greatest results with a limited budget. We will also consider the possibility of support in Africa. 3