Japan and five Mekong sub-regional countries in Southeast Asia concluded their first ever summit on Nov. 7 with the Tokyo Declaration that steps up cooperation in protecting the environment and tackling climate change over the next decade.

According to the declaration, Japan promised to provide official development technical assistance (ODA) to the five Mekong sub-regional countries of Cambodia , Laos , Myanmar , Thailand and Vietnam , for the efforts.

To encourage the region's further development, Japan pledged more than 500 billion JPY (around 5.5 billion USD) in official aid to the countries over the next three years from fiscal 2010, which begins next April.

Japan also pledged continued assistance in enhancing infrastructure in the Mekong subregion and promised to invite about 30,000 people, mostly the young, from the region to Japan over the next three years through seminars and exchange programmes.

The declaration emphasised that Japan and the Mekong sub-regional countries also agreed to contribute to the integration of the ASEAN and to the establishment of an East Asian community in the long term.

They urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to fully comply with United Nations Security Council’s resolutions and to return immediately and without preconditions to the six-party talks aimed at denuclearising the Korean Peninsula .

The nations decided to hold the summit meeting every year and make the meetings of their foreign ministers and economy ministers regular events.

Speaking at a press conference after the summit, Japan ’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said leaders came to the meeting sharing the understanding of building partnership for the future of common prosperity. He added that regional cooperation is being promoted to narrow development gaps in the region and the role of Japan in the process is very important.

Government officials of Japan and five Mekong subregion countries are scheduled to discuss specific cooperation plans at a meeting in the first half of next year./.