The Thai-Japanese Association (TJA) celebrated its 90th anniversary at the event “TJA 90 Years of Friendship and Strengthening Future Collaboration” on November 11, 2025, at The Athenee Hotel, Bangkok, welcoming 148 distinguished guests. The ceremony opened with remarks by H.E. Masato Otaka (Ambassador of Japan to Thailand), H.E. Vijavat Isarabhakdi (Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs), H.E. Arsa Sarasin (Honorary President), and Mr. Kalin Sarasin (President of the Thai-Japanese Association), reflecting on nine decades of friendship, cooperation, and shared progress between Thailand and Japan.
Mr. Atsushi Egawa (Co-CEO of Asia Pacific and CEO of Japan, Accenture) delivered a keynote address on “Enterprise Reinvention in the Era of AI Agents.” He emphasized that AI and GenAI are fundamentally reshaping industries, roles, ways of working, and decision-making. These technologies are enabling product cycles that are ten times faster and manufacturing at significantly lower cost. Reinvention, he noted, is now a competitive necessity—driven not only by technology but by a cultural shift led by CEOs who can challenge legacy assumptions and guide organizations toward a future-ready direction. AI/GenAI serve as strategic levers for competitiveness, not merely tools for efficiency.
The panel discussion, “Resilient Supply Chains in ASEAN,” featured Mr. Hiroyasu Sato (President, JCC), Mr. Ryoji Sekido (Co-CEO, Accenture Asia Oceania), Ms. Patama Chantaruck (Country Managing Director, Accenture Thailand), and Mr. Burin Adulwattana (Managing Director and Chief Economist, KResearch). The speakers underscored the rising urgency for organizations to build flexible, automated, and resilient supply chains amid an era of overlapping and intensifying disruptions.
They highlighted that supply chain resilience has become a core driver of competitiveness—enabling organizations to detect disruptions earlier, respond faster, and seize emerging opportunities. Yet many companies remain trapped in isolated “pilot” initiatives that fail to scale. Autonomous, end-to-end supply chains powered by AI-driven decision-making allow businesses to enter new markets more quickly and deliver significantly higher performance. The discussion also touched on broader considerations related to Thailand’s economic outlook and the country’s positioning as companies diversify supply chains across ASEAN, including factors that could strengthen Thailand’s role as a regional hub in preparing for future disruptions.
In a rapidly evolving environment, the event highlighted that strengthening resilience, embracing technological reinvention, and deepening regional collaboration will be central to sustaining competitiveness for both Thai and Japanese businesses in the years ahead.
