At the Fourth Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting, delegates underscored the success of the Green Mekong Forum, emphasizing the importance of economic development compatible with efforts to address environmental issues and climate change, and stressing the need for closer cooperation.
21 July 2011: The Fourth Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held in Bali, Indonesia, on 21 July 2011, back-to-back with the 44th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. The meetings addressed, inter alia, environmental and climate change-related issues.
According to the Chair’s statement, ministers underscored the success of the Green Mekong Forum, which was co-hosted by Japan and Thailand on 24 June 2011, in Bangkok, Thailand, and attended by representatives of Mekong region countries, private sector, and local authorities. In relation to the Green Mekong Forum, delegates emphasized the importance of economic development compatible with efforts to address environmental issues and climate change, stressing the need for closer cooperation. They further welcomed the “public and private cooperation approach” in addressing climate change and other environmental issues, including disaster mitigation and preparedness; and underscored the need to further discuss bilateral offset credit mechanisms.
The third Mekong-Japan Summit Meeting will be held in Indonesia in 2011, while the next Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will convene in Cambodia in 2012. [Japan Press Release] [Chairman’s Statement]