Japan, 5 Mekong nations cooperate on cross-border energy security

Japan and five Mekong River countries will focus on cross-border energy security cooperation in light of power shortages in some parts of the Southeast Asian region.

The countries agreed during their economic ministerial meeting to build transnational power transmission networks and a system for mutual supply of electricity in the Mekong region covering Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, Japanese officials said, according to Kyodo News.

Japan proposed studying the actual conditions of electricity supply in the region, which Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda called during the meeting a growth center for the world and Asia with which Tokyo hopes to advance industrial cooperation.