Japan, 5 Mekong River Countries Adopt New Strategy; Initiatives for Post-COVID-19 Resilience, Digitalization, Security

By Ayaka Kudo / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:48 JST, July 27, 2024

VIENTIANE — Japan and the five Mekong River basin countries — Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos — adopted the Mekong-Japan Cooperation Strategy 2024 at the 15th Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Friday in Vientiane.

The strategy will serve as a guideline for cooperation between the signatories over the next five years, with a focus on deepening collaboration mainly in the economic field

The face-to-face meeting, which Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa cochaired, was the first in about five years, with the last one held in August 2019.

The strategy is centered on three pillars: (1) a resilient and connected society in the post-COVID-19 world, (2) digitalization and (3) proactively response to non-traditional security issues.

Specifically, the strategy includes promoting investment in high-quality infrastructure, strengthening supply chains and cooperating in cybersecurity and energy.

The meeting also expressed concerns about and opposition to economic coercion, with China in mind.

Kamikawa at the meeting expressed her desire for the countries to work together to address imminent challenges to peace and prosperity, basing the partnership on the high degree of trust forged through long-standing cooperation between Japan and the Mekong region.

On the same day prior to the meeting, Kamikawa attended the ASEAN-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Reflecting on the achievements of the ASEAN-Japan special summit held in Tokyo last December, the meeting confirmed the members’ intention to strengthen both interaction between the countries and cooperation on security.