Luncheon between Mr. Osamu Uno, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Ministers of Five Mekong Region Countries

January 16, 2008

On January 16 (Wed), 2008, Mr. Osamu Uno, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, invited five foreign ministers from the Mekong region (Mr. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia; Mr. Nit Pibulsonggram, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand; Mr. Pham Gia Khiem, Deputy Prime Minister and concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam; U Nyan Win, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar; Dr. Thongloun Sisoulith, Deputy Prime Minister and concurrently Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos), now visiting Japan to attend the Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, for a luncheon which lasted about an hour and a half starting from noon.
Mr. Uno said, “Japan and the Mekong region countries have been enjoying friendly relations for many years, and Japan has been cooperating for the development of the region. I hope that this friendly and cooperative relationship will be further strengthened through the Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting which will be held at this time”. The foreign ministers from the five Mekong region countries said that “Japan is an important partner for the development of the Mekong region. They also said that Japan and the Mekong region countries share the recognition that filling the development gap in ASEAN is beneficial for the region as a whole, and welcomed the holding of the Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

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