The 13th Mekong-Japan Economic Ministers’ meeting was held virtually as part of the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting and related events on Sep 13.
Co-chaired by Minister of Industry and Commerce Khampheng Xaysompheng and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama Hiroshi, the meeting was attended by representatives from Mekong member countries namely Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, Japan and ASEAN Secretary General Dato Lim Jock Hoi.
At the meeting, the participants confirmed that the work programme formulated last year toward achieving the “Mekong Industrial Development Vision 2.0 – MIDV 2.0” was generally proceeding well, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.
They recognized the importance of further efforts to promote Mekong-Japan cooperation in the future toward creating a resilient and sustainable economy, for example, a realistic Asian energy transition based on each country’s circumstances.
The Japanese minister highlighted key contents of the 12th Mekong-Japan Economic Ministers’ Meeting and the 12th Mekong-Japan Summit, clarified the importance of Mekong Industry Development Vision 2 (MIDV 2.0) to sustainable development and green growth, and introduced five new projects related to three pillars – connectivity, digital innovation, and sustainable development.
The Lao side also urged Japan to attach importance to other areas: capacity building on product diversity and mindset change for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to promote their digital ecosystem.
The Lao minister also expressed Laos’ support for the promotion of digital innovation and business opportunities through providing training on e-commerce to Mekong officials to ensure transition to new normal and current trends of digitalization and social media in order to help Mekong countries increase capacity, labour force and productivity.
Source: Lao News Agency