BEIJING, April 19 – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is scheduled to leave Beijing for Tokyo to attend the Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit highlighting discussion on cooperation on natural disaster management and connectivity with the Southeast Asian region.
The Thai prime minister, now on the last day of her three-day official visit in China, will visit Japan from Friday through Sunday (April 20-22) for the Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit. The summit will be attended by leaders of Japan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Ms Yingluck will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.
The premier stated that the Fourth Mekong-Japan Summit will emphasise Thailand’s readiness to cooperate with Japan in the sustainable development of Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the building of infrastructure to handle natural disasters.
Ms Yingluck said the development of connectivity among the ASEAN countries will be raised during the summit including the transportation and logistics routes linking Thailand with other GMS countries.
Japan continues to assist developing basic infrastructure in the form of loans and technical cooperation using its expertise such as development of roads and rail route systems, the Thai premier said.
Ms Yingluck said that she would take this opportunity to visit local product centres in Japan to see how they could be adapted to increase the sales potential for locally-produced Thai products.
The “Tokyo Strategy for Mekong-Japan Cooperation” will be endorsed during the summit, aimed at establishing three pillars of Mekong-Japan cooperation for the next three years, according to a statement on Thailand’s Government House website.
The first pillar will enhance connectivity among the GMS countries, the second promotes comprehensive development in the region, while the third pillar is human security and environmental sustainability.
