UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on official visit

Shinzo Abe, Prime minister of Japan on Sunday (April 29, 2007) arrived in Abu Dhabi on a tour of the Middle East aimed at raising the profile of his country in the region. Japan has long felt it has a special role to play in the Middle East because it lacks much of the political baggage of the United States, allowing for warmer ties with Arab nations and a role as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians. With Japan dependent on the Middle East for nearly all its crude oil, Tokyo has decided to boost its involvement in the area as competition for resources heats up with the economic growth of China and India. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said earlier this year that Tokyo has to boost its presence in the Middle East because growing energy demand in China and India would make the oil market more of a seller's market than ever. Officials said before Abe's trip that Tokyo aims to broaden its regional involvement to include non-oil investment and human development out of concern that over-dependence on the oil industry among Gulf nations could lead to instability. Abe is accompanied on his Middle East trip by an economic mission of some 175 businessmen from top Japanese firms. The mission is led by Fujio Mitarai, head of the Keidanren business lobby. Japan withdrew its roughly 600 ground troops from Iraq last year following a non-combat mission that lasted more than two years. But some 200 air force personnel remain in Kuwait, where they airlift supplies to the U.S. military in Iraq. The mission recently was extended for two more years. Abe was set to visit an air base in Kuwait to thank the troops. He also was scheduled to stop in Qatar and Egypt before returning to Japan on May

ITN Source | April 30, 2007

Tags:. .april. .sunday. .china. .east. .oil