Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc joined leaders of Japan and countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) at the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The event was within the framework of PM Phuc’s visit to the East Asian nation from October 8 to 10, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The summit was participated by the Vietnamese premier, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, and leaders from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.

Speaking at the gathering, PM Phuc asserted that Vietnam will maintain its close cooperation with Japan and the Mekong countries to make the Japan-Mekong cooperation mechanism more successful.

The delegates exchanged experiences, and shared their views on the successes, opportunities, and challenges for Japan and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries.

They agreed that the Mekong-Japan cooperation has gained important achievements over the past decade, thus helping expand economic, trade, and people-to-people ties between Japan and the GMS nations.

The leaders reached a consensus on the need to intensify economic connectivity and deepen multifaceted collaboration, for the common interests of all parties.

Phuc stressed that with several hundred projects already successfully implemented, the cooperation has proved to be one of the most effective mechanisms in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

The decision to upgrade the Mekong-Japan cooperation is reasonable, he said, underlining that the important orientations of the freshly-approved Tokyo Strategy 2018 will create a momentum for such relations.

PM Abe emphasized the three main pillars of the Tokyo Strategy, namely vibrant and effective connectivity, a people-centered society, and realizing the goal of a green Mekong.

Leaders of the GMS countries agreed that the strategy will play an important role in their development and in stepping up the strategic partnership between all parties in the future.

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