This is a message from JTTRI Chairman.

As the chairman of Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (JTTRI), I am pleased to inform the opening of ASEAN-India Regional Office in Bangkok, Thailand on April 1, 2021. There were some delays from the initial schedule due to restrictions on an international travel caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, but we had overcome various difficulties and finally reached the opening. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Nippon Foundation, the Royal Thai Government, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and other related organizations for their support and cooperation in the process of opening the office.

ASEAN-India Regional Office (AIRO) is the second overseas office of JTTRI. The relevant areas of AIRO's coverage, the Indian subcontinent as well as the Indochina peninsular and neighboring islands (namely ASEAN member states), has been one of the most important regions for Japan, and we, JTTRI, have always put special emphasis on people in the area as precious partners for various activities such as research surveys, seminars and symposiums, and exchange of opinions and information. AIRO will conduct research and collection of information that will contribute to the planning of transport and tourism policies regarding countries in Southeast and South Asia, as well as disseminate useful information to governments, business circles and academics in these countries, and establish cooperative relationships based on trust with these parties through various activities such as holding seminars and symposiums.

AIRO is committed to making a "useful" and "usable" contribution to the real world through these well-designed activities based on the needs of Southeast and South Asian countries. To this end, AIRO, together with Japan International Transport and Tourism Institute in Washington D.C., USA (JITTI USA, established in 1991) and JTTRI in Tokyo, Japan as a headquarter, will work in unison to enhance, strengthen international contributions and cooperation, including international research surveys and information dissemination, based on broad and strategic perspectives that cover Southeast and South Asia, Japan, and North America.

Although it has been almost one year past after the AIRO was established, AIRO has been working well such having meetings, interviews, presentations and conducting research with various supports extended by related organizations and personals. I am confident that AIRO plays an important role in strengthening the ties between Southeast & South Asian countries and Japan in the fields of transport and tourism through its activities even if in the difficult circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I would like to ask for your warm support for, and cooperation to, AIRO continuously.