Japan steps up ties with Mekong region at summit

By Yoko Nishikawa

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan stressed on Saturday the development needs of the resource-rich Mekong River region where Japan, China and the United States are competing for influence in an area seen as a last frontier of emerging Asia.

At the first leaders' summit among Japan and five Mekong region nations -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam -- Tokyo vowed to expand aid and assistance to the sub-region in areas such as infrastructure and climate change challenges.

The summit came at an awkward time for Thailand and Cambodia, which are embroiled in a row over Cambodia's decision to make fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra an economic adviser.

But the dispute was not mentioned at the summit and did not affect the atmosphere, a Japanese official said.

In recent decades, Japan has been the biggest outside source of aid to the sub-region, but in the past 10 years China's influence in the region has increased significantly, driven by its quest for resources and a readiness to invest in infrastructure and industry.

After years of neglect under the Bush administration, Washington has also signalled a renewed interest in Southeast Asia.

"It will be very meaningful to keep holding this kind of leaders' summit every year given changes in the international climate," Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told a joint news conference after the summit.

But he played down the notion of competition between Washington and Beijing.