Japan announces $7 billion plan to develop Mekong region

The initiative will help promote “connectivity” within Southeast Asian countries and Japan through funding in infrastructure and development

No it won't. Its just Japan's political sway and more "checkbook policy" as a result of China's incursions into South China Sea. Japan really doesn't care too much for Southeast Asian countries.

To "develop" usually seems to mean to "concrete" but with places left to concrete being in short supply in Japan then the concreters are probably happy this morning.

“I am expecting the day when, as a result of these efforts, I can depart from Bangkok eastward in the morning and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City at night and enjoy pho for dinner,” he said.

You can do it now by plane. The distance is 750km as the crow flies, quite a distance to cover by road or rail in a day unless they are intending to build a Shinkansen line. That is further than Tokyo to Hiroshima, which not many people would do in a day except by Shinkansen or plane.

So they want to raise taxes to pay for earthquake damages, have people continue to live in temp housing up north and people living out of cars down south but Mekong region gets 750 billion yen just like that? What did i miss?

Corporate welfare simple as that!

Why not use this money for Kumamoto or cleaning up and looking after the people still effected by nuclear disaster?

since1981: "So they want to raise taxes to pay for earthquake damages, have people continue to live in temp housing up north and people living out of cars down south but Mekong region gets 750 billion yen just like that? What did i miss?"

You missed the fact that people from the 2011 disasters are STILL in temporary houses while the government has given TRILLIONS to other nations and said they have to raise taxes because of so many money problems at home. Which is to say, you missed the fact that the leadership does not honestly care about the little people, just the big companies they have investment in.

While the hen is sitting on the nest Japan takes care of the rest and not its own!! Same on you Japan fix your own infrastructure before you fix another countries.

Wow. Where does the money come from? My pocket, giving less money to my family. Seriously I'm going to do something about this crap soon.

Maybe this is why people who know enough about money to have it, want to hide it?

That amount also neglects the billions poured into the Mekong subregion via the Japanese part-owned Asian Development Bank.