Japan announces $10b fund to help Southeast Asia tackle oil price spike

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, after holding a
video conference with leaders from Southeast Asia, told reporters that the
assistance, dubbed "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 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.
















