Japan Pledges $6bn for Mekong Region 5

• 31 December 2015
• Local News
• 543 Views

Japan plans to invest $6 billion in developmental aid to Mekong region countries – Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Vietnam – over the next three years as part of its Tokyo Strategy 2015.

The Mekong nations all have excellent economic prospects, with their infrastructure needs suggesting that they are promising destinations for Japanese exporters of railway technologies and infrastructure. Cambodia in particular has been a significant recipient of Japanese infrastructure development aid over the last 20 years.

The “four pillars” of the plan are industrial infrastructure development, industrial human resources, sustainable development, and policy coordination with various stakeholders.

In May, Japan also announced a plan to provide $110 billion in aid to drive Asian infrastructure projects.

These announcements come against a backdrop of the signing of the China-dominated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which Japan did not join.