Bali, Indonesia (The Nation/ANN) - 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.
Supalak Ganjanakhundee in Bali/The Nation |
ANN
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