Japan, Mekong leaders map out three-year cooperation plan
Leaders from Japan and countries in the Mekong basin including Thailand have agreed to map out new areas of cooperation to develop the region and prepare for the Asean Economic Community's launch in 2015.
The new pillars of Mekong-Japan cooperation for 2013-2015 would be discussed ahead of their adoption at the next summit of the group in Japan next year, according to a joint statement issued after a meeting on Friday evening. Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are the other Mekong countries involved in the talks.During their meeting in Bali, leaders of the group emphasised the need for further cooperation on disaster management in the Mekong region, taking into account the current flooding, notably in Thailand, where Japan's huge production base was seriously damaged.
"Japanese and Mekong economies are closely connected via production chains and logistic links in this region, so the damage affected all of our economies," Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said at the meeting.
Water-resource management in the Mekong region is a very important issue, and Thailand seeks cooperation of the countries in the Lower Mekong basin - Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - in this area, she said.
The disaster has had a serious impact on regional food security, and looking long term, floods and drought affect the agriculture sector and farmers, she said.
The Mekong region is one of major world's rice production areas, she said.
Yingluck expressed her gratitude for assistance from Japan and countries in the Mekong region in tackling Thailand's flooding.
In the meeting, leaders of Mekong countries and Japan welcomed Thailand and Japan's initiatives to enhance cooperation between the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre in Kobe and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre in Thailand, said the joint statement.
Japan fully supports the establishment of the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) in Jakarta, it said.
In the 30-minute meeting in Bali, leaders of the Mekong region and Japan also exchanged views on regional and global issues such as de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and tensions in the South China Sea.
The nuclear issue in North Korea is one of Japan's main concerns, while potential conflict in South China Sea was raised by Vietnam'.
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