(VOVworld) – On Monday, during a visit to Thailand Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida announced an aid initiative of 7 billion USD over the next 3 years to boost development in the lower Mekong basin including Mekong-subregional countries: Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

Speaking at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, he stressed the importance of economic development in South East Asia to Japan and said the initiative will strengthen connectivity between the region and Japan. With regard to the East Sea issue, he called for establishing a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) and said only prosperity will help to achieve peace and stability in the region. He said that as ASEAN countries are facing a number of issues such as terrorism, extremism, and navigation security and safety, they need to support one another to tackle those challenges and maintain stability in the region.