Mekong summit set for April 21

Thursday, March 1, 2012
Kyodo

The leaders of Japan and five Mekong-region nations will hold a summit in Tokyo on April 21, aiming to bolster their ties to help develop the Southeast Asian area, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to take part in the talks, in which they plan to map out their new cooperation plan through 2015, Fujimura said.

Noda may also hold bilateral talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of the summit, a government official said.