Japan to provide $10 billion to Southeast Asia to ease oil price strain

Japan has decided to provide a total of $10 billion in financial support to Southeast Asian nations struggling with surging crude oil prices amid tensions in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced during an online meeting with Southeast Asian leaders on Wednesday.

The assistance will mainly take the form of loans aimed at helping countries secure crude oil supplies.

The Japanese Prime Minister, after holding a video conference with leaders from Southeast Asia, told reporters that the assistance, dubbed as “Power Asia,” is aimed at providing loans needed to secure crude oil, petroleum products and to maintain the supply chain in an emergency response to help hard-hit nations.

The fund also aims to expand an oil reserve system within Asia, diversify energy, and to promote energy conservation and industrial advancement, Takaichi said.

Japan, which imports petroleum-related products such as medical supplies from Southeast Asia, is increasingly worried that the region’s oil supply shortages would affect the Japanese economy.

The fund is one year’s worth of oil imports for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries, or about 1.2 billion barrels, Takaichi said. The assistance is not meant to just provide oil, but for Asian nations to support each other.

--Agencies