Chiang Rai News
Japan Pledges to Assistance to Mekong Sub-Region Nations
TOKYO– Japan has vowed to continue assisting five Southeast Asian countries in the Mekong sub-region in building infrastructure and developing the regional economy towards the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community by the end of 2015, according to Japan’s Kyodo news.
Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Norio Mitsuya said at a Japan-Mekong forum in Tokyo on February 18 that Japan will help create the envisaged community by “enhancing connectivity and reducing development gaps” between more developed states such as Singapore and less developed ones including Myanmar.
On the sidelines of a Japan- ASEAN summit in December last year, Japan unveiled a total of 200 billion JPY (roughly 1.96 billion USD) in aid to the Mekong region, on top of a three-year, 600 billion JPY assistance package pledged at a Japan-Mekong summit in 2012
