Japan welcomes Mekong leaders in jostle for influence

Tokyo

JAPAN is rolling out the red carpet this weekend for the leaders of the "Mekong Five" as it pushes infrastructure exports and courts influence in a region where rival China has an increasing presence.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam - fast-growing economies through which the lower section of the Mekong river flows - at the seventh annual "Japan-Mekong" summit in Tokyo on Saturday.