14th Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Proposes Joint Working Group on Economic Recovery

The 14th Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held on 6 August 2021 chaired by Mr. Motegi Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and attended by Foreign Ministers of the Mekong subregion. The meeting underscored that Japan will (i) continuously support mutual development through the Mekong-Japan cooperation framework, and (ii) help Mekong countries overcome the fight against COVID-19. Japan has provided approximately 5.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Mekong subregion, and invested around 750 million yen (around $6.78 million) for cold chain system building and provision of oxygen concentrators. Cambodia proposed to establish a joint working group on economic recovery scenarios to study potential recovery efforts to revitalize tourism, MSMEs, and investment. The meeting also discussed digital and green economy.