November 2, 2009
By Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation
Tokyo - The first-ever summit of Mekong River countries and Japan will facilitate creation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), Japanese Ambassador to Asean Yoshinori Katori said on Friday.
Tokyo will host the Mekong Summit this Friday and Saturday, with leaders of the five Asean nations touching the Mekong River - Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - and Japan participating.
"This will be a great opportunity for countries in the Mekong Basin and Japan to gather to discuss greater cooperation in promoting the Mekong region," said Katori.
The summit will focus on narrowing the development gap among countries served by the Mekong and promoting greater Asean integration.
Keiichi Ono, director of the First Southeast Asia Division in the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department, said the summit would have a four-part agenda.
First, leaders will discuss how development in the Mekong region should proceed.
Second will be how to respond to the negative effects of development, such as environmental pollution, and transnational problems like infectious diseases.
Third will be expanding cooperation and exchanges between Japan and the Mekong-region countries in a wide range of fields and levels.
Fourth will be a focus on regional and international issues. Any country will be allowed to raise a topic for discussion and have bilateral meetings with others.
"Along with the East Asia Summit, the Mekong Summit will serve as a stage for leaders of the Mekong nations and Japan to share ideas and show their vision for the future development of the Mekong Basin," said Ono.
He said the outcome of the meeting would help countries along the Mekong enhance their attempts at economic development and safeguard their interests once the AEC took effect in 2015.
The Mekong River plays a vital role in Asean. It is rich in natural resources, contains almost half of Asean's population and affords distinct geographical advantages.
A Mekong Partnership was formed in 2007, and there exist many development schemes supported by China under the framework of the Greater Mekong Subregion, along with Asean connectivity schemes.
The Japanese government is donating US$20 million (Bt669 million) to allow 10,000 youths from Mekong countries to visit the country over the next five years and has declared 2009 to be the Mekong-Japan Exchange Year.
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