Japan will provide ¥600 billion in official development assistance within three years to the Mekong region countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to bolster their development, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared Saturday.
Noda made the ODA announcement at the fourth annual Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo, where he met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong from Laos, Myanmar President Thein Sein, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
"There is no stability in the East Asia region without stability and development in the Mekong region," Noda said at a joint news conference after the summit. "Our country will continue to focus on the importance of supporting the Mekong region and would like to strongly promote cooperation" with the area.