Japan vows wider Asia energy aid as Middle East tensions bite
Tokyo says helping Asia also protects Japan, as it offers $10 billion for fuel purchases and teams with the ADB on SME and energy-transition funding.
- Japan has pledged up to $10 billion in financial aid to help Asian countries secure crude oil and petroleum products amid shortages and inflation linked to Middle East tensions.
- The support includes a joint program with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help nations reshape their energy systems and reinforce supply chains over the long term.
- Japan is also pursuing diplomatic efforts with Central Asian nations like Azerbaijan to secure energy sources from outside the Middle East.
- The initiative aims to strengthen Japan's own economic security by stabilizing its Asian supply chains and to counter China's expanding influence in the region.
Japan has promised full backing for developing Asian economies hit by crude oil shortages and inflation linked to continuing tensions in the Middle East, using a series of meetings in Uzbekistan from Sunday (May 4), including the Asian Development Bank’s annual gathering, to set out its support.
The move comes as Tokyo seeks to deepen economic security ties with like-minded partners while keeping China’s expanding regional influence in view. The speed at which Japan can turn its pledges into action is expected to draw close attention.
“Japan has extensive supply chains in Asia, so helping Asia is the same as helping Japan,” Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told a press conference in Samarkand, southeastern Uzbekistan, on Monday, stressing the importance of aid for the wider region.
Katayama arrived in Uzbekistan on Sunday and briefed participants at the meetings on a Japanese government plan announced last month to provide up to $10 billion in financial assistance to help Asian countries secure crude oil and petroleum products.
On Monday, Japan and the Manila-based ADB also announced a joint programme to support financing for small enterprises in ADB member states and help those countries reshape their energy systems over the medium to long term.
Tokyo’s broader aim is to reinforce supply chains across Asia, where Japan obtains many of the materials it needs, and in doing so, strengthen its own economic security. Japanese government officials said countries on both the supply and demand sides had already shown interest in the initiatives.
Katayama’s visit overlapped with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s trip to Vietnam and Australia, where she agreed with the two countries’ leaders to strengthen cooperation on energy security and other areas.
The finance minister also pursued resource diplomacy with Central Asian countries. She met Uzbek leaders and ministers from Azerbaijan, an oil-producing nation, and called for cooperation to obtain crude oil from sources outside the Middle East and critical minerals from suppliers other than China. Informed sources said Central Asian countries responded positively.
However, it is still unclear whether the efforts will be enough to prevent an energy crisis, as concerns grow that the Middle East conflict could drag on. Building the infrastructure needed to improve supply chains is likely to take considerable time.
Japan also faces a tough contest with China in the race for natural resource concessions in Central Asia, where Beijing is already ahead.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
