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Obuchi ends Southeast Asian tour

BANGKOK: Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi pledged to help poverty-wracked Cambodia and Laos and seek ways to boost trade with Thailand as he concluded his Southeast Asian trip on Saturday.

Asia was set to make an economic comeback and become the motor of global growth in the 21st century, Obuchi said.

Thailand, the country where the Asian economic crisis started in 1997, had recovered faster than expected, Obuchi told a news conference on Friday.

Obuchi said dollars 80 billion of support given by Japan to Asian economies during two and half years of financial turmoil, combined with "bold economic structural reforms" undertaken by Asian leaders, had played a "major role" in the turnaround.

"I'm convinced that through these efforts Asia will once again become the centre of growth of the world in the 21st century," Obuchi said. Obuchi left Bangkok early Saturday aboard a special aircraft bound for Tokyo.