Mekong - Japan Senior Officials’ Meeting 20 June 2022, Phnom Penh

On 20 June 2022, H.E. Ms. Arunrung Phothong Humphreys, Ambassador Attached to the Ministry and Thai SOM Leader for Mekong Cooperation, attended the Mekong - Japan Senior Officials' Meeting co-chaired by Cambodia and Japan in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Meeting discussed preparation for the high-level meetings under the Mekong - Japan Cooperation (MJ) framework to be arranged in the near future. The Meeting also reviewed the progress of the cooperation under the MJ framework which is an important platform for policy coordination to narrow development gap and promote comprehensive cooperation between Mekong countries and Japan, particularly on connectivity and sustainable development.

Moreover, the meeting also exchanged views on the future direction of MJ with a view to jointly meeting the challenges the Mekong sub-region has now been facing which includes the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, global economic slowdown, rising inflation, food and energy security. In this regard, the Meeting agreed to accelerate and expand cooperation in many key areas, such as infrastructure development, economic recovery, climate resilience and digitalisation.

On this occassion, Ambassador Arunrung urged member countries to step up the MJ cooperation under the 2018 Tokyo Strategy. In particular, she called for close partnership on industries of future, digitalisation, as well as vocational education through the establishment of the KOSEN Education Center in Thailand as a center for research and course development, connecting all KOSEN Institutes in the sub-region. She also proposed Mekong countries and Japan to deepen cooperation in public health, sustainable development, and green energy by leveraging the Japan - US - Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP) and the Mekong - Japan SDGs Forum which is a Track 1.5 meeting co-organised annually by Thailand and Japan.

Mekong - Japan Cooperation was established in 2008, comprising of five Mekong countries and Japan. Currently guided by the Tokyo Strategy 2018, MJ has three main pillars, namely (1) Vibrant and Effective Connectivity (2) People-Centred Society and (3) Realisation of a Green Mekong.