Second Friends of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial Meeting - Overview

July 13, 2012
Japanese

On Friday, July 13, the Second Friends of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial Meeting was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 10:46 for approximately one hour. An overview of the meeting is as follows. [In attendance were: Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States; and Mr. Koichiro Gemba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, as well as foreign ministers from the participating LMI countries (Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Laos, and Myanmar), Australia, the European Union, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand. Representatives from the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and non-governmental organizations also participated in the Meeting.]

At the beginning, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton stated that in order to realize sustainable development in the Mekong region, close coordination between donor countries of the region will be important.
Foreign ministers of the Mekong region countries, relevant donor countries (including Japan), and representatives from international organizations who participated in the Meeting welcomed the official participation of Myanmar in the Meeting, and, at the same time, shared recognition that in order to further improve the effects of the individual aid programs by each donor country and to enhance synergy, close coordination between donor countries and Mekong region countries will be important. Furthermore, for the future development of the Mekong region, the countries confirmed to proactively exchange information and to coordinate more closely with each other.
After the Meeting, the Statement of the Second Friends of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) Ministerial Meeting was released. An overview of the statement is as follows:

(1) Endorsed the structure of the Friends of LMI Meeting as a two-track meeting of (A) dialogues between aid agencies of each countries and development institutions , and (B) policy dialogues held at the ministerial and senior official levels (SOM) among foreign ministers.

(2) Stressed that the Friends of LMI Meeting can include expanded discussion on non-traditional security issues that may affect the stability and resiliency of the Lower Mekong region beyond the boundary of the countries, such as the environment, climate changes, health, infrastructure development, human trafficking, and migration, as well as issues that may affect human security.

(3) Stressed efforts that particularly strengthen the scientific and technological capabilities of the Mekong River Committee, and urged the countries in the Mekong region to jointly manage their common water resources through an open and transparent method so that the Mekong will be beneficial to the people of its region.

(*The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original version in Japanese.)

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