The Japanese government stressed a comprehensive approach to developing infrastructure in the Mekong subregion during a workshop that ended Thursday, Foreign Ministry officials said.
The two-day workshop focused on National Road Route 9, a project that will link Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to create an East-West corridor on the Indochinese Peninsula. Senior officials from nine countries -- including Australia, Cambodia, China, Japan and Vietnam -- and six international organizations, including the United Nations Development Program, participated.
Infrastructure projects should be taken on in tandem with human resource and agriculture programs to make the region's development more effective, the officials said. The meeting also emphasized the importance of participation by the private sector due to the shortage of public funds for the road project, the officials said.
Other issues such as drug trafficking should also be addressed while promoting development, according to the officials.