Japan and the Mekong region

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his counterparts from five Mekong region countries held their first summit on Friday and Saturday in Tokyo, hammering out Japan's support measures to combat climate change and narrow economic gaps within the region. The summit was held at a time when China's influence is growing in the region. Mr. Hatoyama can use the summit as a springboard for increasing Japan's influence in the region and laying the groundwork for an East Asian Community, the establishment of which he advocates.

As a result of the summit, Japan will expand financial and technological assistance to the region in line with the Hatoyama Initiative, a plan that Mr. Hatoyama announced in September in the United Nations to help developing countries cut greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Japan will also contribute to economic development in the Mekong region by expanding efforts to build infrastructure and improve "software" related to economic activities, such as skill enhancement, customs clearance and legislation.

As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations moves toward the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, rectification of economic disparities within the region has become a pressing issue. Apart from Thailand, the four other countries — Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar — are relatively poor, with per capita GDP averaging less than $1,000. They are trying to use their young and inexpensive labor force as a means of attracting investment.

China is aggressively expanding its influence in the Mekong region. It is boosting its aid to and investment in Myanmar to secure the country's natural gas and mineral resources. For example, the construction of a natural gas pipe line linking Yunnan Province and coastal Myanmar has just begun. China has won orders for six of Cambodia's seven hydraulic power generation projects. And China and ASEAN have agreed to establish a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in January 2010.

If Mr. Hatoyama is serious about the creation of an East Asian Community, he will have to strengthen Japan's ties with the Mekong region countries by meeting their requests in a timely manner. He must also work to minimize friction with China in the Mekong region in order to prevent political rivalry from undermining the region's development.