TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba is considering making a four-day trip in late December to visit Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand to pledge efforts to strengthen ties with the Southeast Asian nations and to offer further support for flood-hit Thailand, government sources said Sunday.
Arrangements are being made for Gemba's trip from Dec. 25 to 28, the sources said.
In Myanmar, Gemba plans to hold talks with President Thein Sein, while he plans to announce fresh flood-relief measures in Thailand.
Gemba will likely discuss with Thai officials Tokyo's readiness to provide funding via Japan's official development assistance program for recovery from massive flooding, in addition to support for infrastructure restoration and flood prevention works.
In Cambodia, he is expected to pledge continued cooperation in economic, security and other areas with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the sources said. The three Mekong basin countries he is considering visiting belong to the 10-member regional bloc.
With Gemba's visit, Japan also wants to seek ways to strength bilateral ties through economic cooperation and development assistance with Cambodia, which will chair ASEAN in 2012, they said.
(Mainichi Japan) November 28, 2011
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