Mekong, Japan's foreign ministers pledge for more cooperation

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The second foreign ministerial meeting among five Mekong countries and Japan ended Saturday afternoon with pledges for more cooperation in the region.

In a chair's statement released after the meeting, "the ministers reaffirmed their determination to closely cooperation on regional and global issues of common concern, and to deepen and broaden the existing Mekong-Japan cooperation and cooperation under other frameworks, such as the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue Relations, the ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit as well as the ASEAN Regional Forum to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in the region."

"The ministers also reaffirmed the importance of improving, through closer consultation of all its stakeholders, the business environment of each country and of the region as a whole to accelerate trade and investment," it said.

The statement, however, said the ministers recognized that the Mekong region, despite its recent development, still confronts challenges that need to be overcome as soon as possible.

He said the assistance from Japan to the region will focus on "infrastructure, investment, human resource development, cultural exchange and youth exchange."

For youth exchange, Japan pledged to accept 10,000 youth from Mekong countries for five years, starting from 2007, said Hor Namhong.

At the start of the meeting earlier in the day, Hor Namhong said "Our gathering here today constitutes a step further in the realization of our partnership for the development of the Mekong basin, which would certainly yield great benefit for the peoples living along the Mekong River and Japan as well."

The second Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting has reviewed progress made since the first meeting in Tokyo, Japan in January 2008.

Mekong-Japan Partnership Program was launched in 2007 for the sake of peace, development and prosperity in the Mekong sub-region.