trade and investment to achieve the revival of the japanese economy and prosper together with asean nations. >> the president said cooperation between china and japan is important regionally and globally. the leaders agree to promote political and security dialogue and strengthen ties. he looks for abe's experience. >>> abe has been juggling a number of priorities since his party took power last month. and he became prime minister for a second time. nhk world has more on the issue his administration is trying to tackle. >> reporter: abe has done this job before. now he's getting a refresher course in diplomacy. he went on this tour to sound out leaders who share his concerns about china. he says chinese ships are becoming increasingly assertive. but abe is also keeping an eye on what's going on back home. he has promised to pull japan out of deflation and revitalize the economy. and he wants to reinforce ties with countries considered to be engines of growth. abe had hoped to make washington his first foreign visit. but u.s. officials couldn't find time because of president obama's inaugura

leaders from china frequently visits member nations of asean. three years ago, china and asean abolished most bilateral free trade agreements and tariffs. the deal created the world's largest free trade zone where the combined population of 1.9 billion people. mahbubani says the trade agreement represented a diplomatic defeat for japan. >> it's interesting that the first country to propose a free trade agreement with asean was not japan. it should have been japan. japan should be one step ahead of china in its dealings with asean. as the southeast asian countries want to diversify their portfolio, they want to do more with japan. the question is, is japan ready to reciprocate? is japan ready to make new initiatives? for example, if china was the first country to propose a bilateral fda with asean, why doesn't japan become the first country to produce a trial fda but in japan, asean and india? this requires diplomatic initiative, courage, imagination. and that's sometimes missing in japan. >> reporter: but mahbubani also pointed to the advantage

is attracting a lot of attention as a travel destination. >> reporter: economic growth within asean nations is feeding new consumer markets for the travel industry. japanese companies are lining up to welcome more visitors from are the philippines in the coming years. nhk world, manila. >>> that wraps up our bulletin. i'm patchari raksawong in bangkok. >>> dry weather here in tokyo. all of japan is not sharing the fair weather. robert speta is here with more. robert? >> yeah, across much of the weekend, actually tokyo is staying rather dry. hail could even be mixed into this. about 100-plus gusty winds continuing to push onshore here. but as the front pushes to the east, these blinds continue to come in from the northwest. that's going to set up the sea effect snow machine again. here we talk about the snow effect snow machine, but we are diving into what brings the heavy snow into west honshu. dry air comes in out of siberia. as it goes over the sea of japan, it picks up this cloud cover, it creates clouds larger and larger. once it hits the mountains, it squeezes it out like a sponge. tha

asean group is 45 years old. over that time it has grown to ten member nations with a combined population of 85 million. 580 million. asean is important for the sluggish committee. among the international community. >> we must go on doing many more things. next decade is going to be more challenging than the past decade. asean will have to maintain our centrality more effectively than before. >> reporter: some asean member countries have simmering territorial disputes with china over islands and waters in the south china sea. but when asean foreign ministers met last year, they couldn't come up with a strategy to deal with china. on one side because last year's asean's last chair, korea, who receives large amounts of aid. on the other side were other nations. it was the first time they concluded the meeting without adopting a joint statement. new secretary-general minh has indicated that he wants to quickly resolve issues peacefully. >> we have a view to achieve ab early conclusion of a code of conduct on the south china sea. >> reporter: the asean flag feat tirring ten spokes spun together. it represents how membe

. >>> brunei is the chair nation of asean this year. the role brings with it a heavy burden, managing asean member states and their competing claims with china over parts of the south china sea. the situation is extra complicated for brunei. it's one of the parties wrapped up in the dispute but it also enjoys strong economic links with beijing. we have this report. >> reporter: with a population of just 420,000, brunei relies on wealth to make its presence felt in a region of more than 600 million people. the country ranks second among asean members behind singapore in terms of gdp per capita with nearly $36,000. much of that wealth comes from the country's oil and natural gas fields. they account for more than 50% of gdp. most of these resources lie at the bottom of the south china sea, a region where bruni and other asean members share territorial disputes with an increasingly assertive china. even so, they enjoy cordial relations with beijing. in recent years, chinese authorities have made efforts to strengthen ties with the resource

. >>> brunei is the chair nation of asean this year. the role brings with it a heavy burden, managing asean member states and their competing claims with china over parts of the south china sea. the situation is extra complicated for brunei. it's one of the parties wrapped up in the dispute but it also enjoys strong economic links with beijing. we have this report. >> reporter: with a population of just 420,000, brunei relies on wealth to make its presence felt in a region of more than 600 million people. the country ranks second among asean members behind singapore in terms of gdp per capita with nearly $36,000. much of that wealth comes from the country's oil and natural gas fields. they account for more than 50% of gdp. most of these resources lie at the bottom of the south china sea, a region where bruni and other asean members share territorial disputes with an increasingly assertive china. even so, they enjoy cordial relations with beijing. in recent years, chinese authorities have made efforts to strengthen ties with the resource

nations will start next wednesday. >> translator: the strategic environment has been changing drastically in the asia pacific region. it is crucial that japan strengthen its cooperative ties with asean members to secure peace and prosperity in this area. >> suga denied suggestions from the media that china's expansion in the south china sea is the main reason for the visit. he and prime minister abe want to firm up economic partnerships with these fast-growing asian countries, which are leading global economic growth. >>> senior officials of the ruling liberal democratic party and it's coalition party have agreed on abe's economic stimulus plan. the agreement came on thursday at a meeting attended by abe who is also the ldp leader and new komeito leader, natsayama guchi. abe calls the stimulus the first in a series of measures to avoid the economy's freefall and promote private sector investment. one of the three pillars of the package is projects for post- disaster rebuilding and disaster containment. these will include road repairs and making school buildings quake-resistant. the second is the creation of wealth through growth. it calls for overseas expansion for businesses. the t

nations will start next wednesday. >> translator: the strategic environment has been changing drastically in the asia pacific region. it is crucial that japan strengthen its cooperative ties with asean members to secure peace and prosperity in this area. >> suga denied suggestions from the media that china's expansion in the south china sea is the main reason for the visit. he and prime minister abe want to firm up economic partnerships with these fast-growing asian countries, which are leading global economic growth. >>> abe is not only taking care of business overseas but his main focus has been to boost the economy here so japan can start growing again. ron madison in the studio with more on that. >> yeah, we have been talking a few days at areas they would like to see stimulus, gene, and now we hear senior officials of the ruling liberal democratic party and its coalition party have agreed on prime minister abe's economic stimulus plan. the agreement came on thursday at a meeting atended by abe who was also the ldp leader and new komito leader yamaguchi. he calls this the first in preventing the economy's freefall. one of the three pillars of the project is disasterry building a