In 2000, as part of the Asia Pacific Agenda Project (APAP), the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS), the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, and JCIE started a collaborative effort to develop a policy dialogue on intra-ASEAN cooperation and developments in Asia Pacific. These ran from 2000 to 2003, and they aimed to engage with the more internationally oriented elements of the Myanmar government to encourage the country to move more towards the mainstream of regional politics.

The First Myanmar Seminar was held on October 31–November 1, 2000, with approximately 30 participants from 10 ASEAN member countries and Japan. Following this effort, a Second Myanmar Seminar was held in Yangon on December 4–5, 2001, and a Third Myanmar Seminar on February 7–8, 2003, also in Yangon.

Issues discussed at these seminars include ASEAN and globalization; strategic developments in the region; the integration of new ASEAN members into Asia Pacific; ASEAN experiences with macroeconomic policy and development; macroeconomic challenges in a global economy; economic integration in ASEAN and East Asia; domestic governance and regional cooperation; and the role of Japan in ASEAN’s development.