Japan steps up aid to Mekong nations

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva (R) walks with his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama prior to their meeting in Tokyo yesterday. The leaders of Japan and Southeast Asia's five Mekong River nations wrapped up a summit at which Tokyo pledged more than 5.5 billion USD in loans and grants and vowed deeper ties.Photo: AFPAfp, Tokyo

The leaders of Japan and Southeast Asia's five Mekong River nations wrapped up a summit Saturday at which Tokyo pledged more than 5.5 billion dollars in loans and grants and vowed deeper ties.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told a press conference the Mekong region was a "priority area" for Japan's official development assistance (ODA) as it seeks to boost development in the resource-rich area.

A joint declaration said "Japan commits more than 500 billion yen of ODA in the next three years" for the further development of the Mekong region, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.

"We strongly recognised the need for further strengthening of the Mekong-Japan relationship and cooperation to maximise the potential of the Mekong region," the statement said.

Asian giants Japan and China have for years poured aid and investment into the region, home to more than 220 million people, and are seen increasingly as competitors for influence.

Hatoyama said it was "not fair to say China's increasing involvement in the Mekong region is a disadvantage for Japan," noting Tokyo and Beijing had begun to coordinate policies towards the region.

"It is very important to create mutual benefits by cooperating each other" for "win-win-win relations" among Japan, China and the Mekong nations, he said.

Much of the region along the lower reaches of the 4,800-kilometre (2,980-mile) Mekong River has historically been isolated by war and political turmoil and remains poorer than other parts of Southeast Asia.