Japan, Vietnam to co-chair 13th Mekong - Japan Ministerial Meeting

The 13th Mekong - Japan Ministerial Meeting will be held online on July 9, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said on July 8.

The meeting will be co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi.

According to a press release from the Japanese ministry, ministers will discuss cooperation between Japan and five Mekong sub-regional countries in health care, including issues related to infectious diseases, and the strengthening of Japan-Mekong economic relations once COVID-19 is overcome.

It said Japan and the Mekong sub-regional countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam are working towards the three goals of realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), building a free and open Indo-Pacific, and coordinating with the Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, based on the three pillars of the Tokyo Strategy 2018 for Mekong - Japan Cooperation, which was adopted at the Mekong - Japan Summit in Tokyo in 2018.