The Japanese government has pledged JPY600 billion ($7.4 billion) in aid over three years to help five Mekong states, including Vietnam foster development, with an eye to countering China’s growing influence. “The stability and prosperity of East Asia will not be possible without the stability and prosperity of the Mekong region,” Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said at a press conference following a summit in Tokyo. “The Japanese government will recognize the Mekong region as a significant destination of assistance and continue its cooperation strongly,” he noted. Noda met leaders of the five Mekong region countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam as Japan’s export-dependent economy seeks cheap labor and investment to power growth. In addition to $7.4 billion in official development assistance over three years to 2015, Tokyo presented a list of 57 infrastructure projects planned in the region, estimated to cost around JPY2.3 trillion. Japan will strengthen its support for hard and soft infrastructure projects, especially projects which develop the East-West Economic Corridor and Southern Economic Corridor. The corridors will link the Mekong region states in a bid to improve connectivity and trade. The projects also include a roadway connecting Myanmar to Thailand. “A well-connected Mekong region requires actions and measures to facilitate economic development” the statement said. The region along the lower reaches of the 4,800-km Mekong River has historically been isolated by war and political turmoil and remains poorer than other parts of Southeast Asia. Rivals Japan and China have poured aid and investment into the Mekong region for years, home to more than 220 million people, and are seen increasingly as competitors for influence. All the five Mekong states belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has raised an ambitious plan to build a common, barrier-free market by 2015. (AFP Apr 22, vietnamplus.vn Apr 21)
