According to Channelnewsasia
TOKYO: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as the first sitting Japanese premier to visit Central Asia, the government said.
Koizumi, who steps down next month, will hold meetings with President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev during his four-day trip to Central Asia.
The visit, the first by any Japanese prime minister to the region, comes as Tokyo looks to bolster cooperation with the oil- and gas-rich nations to compete with the booming Chinese economy for regional energy resources.
Japan relies heavily on foreign energy and imports nearly all of its oil, mostly from members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in the volatile Middle East, such as Iran.
In Kazakhstan, Koizumi and Nazarbayev will announce an agreement to send Japanese experts to help develop Kazakh nuclear power plants.
-Japan is in the worst situation ever for their energy security since the world war 2, with a possible lost of Indonesia natural gas (LNG) after contracts expires in 2010 and a possible sanction against IRAN (oil disruption) will mean they must acquire whatever energy resources they get hold of EVEN at higher market prices.
The possibility that IRAN might use oil supply as a weapon against allies of USA is a clear and present danger even if it’s just against USA only, the implication is market forces will run into panic mode causing the oil prices to sky rocket and fluctuate wildly causing serious implication to world economies.
However, to think of IRAN to be nuclear powered is a serious problem for the world national security together with North Korea (Iran’s ally and ballistic missile trading partner) will make the world a less safer place to be. The future is bleak but we must maintain positive and earn as much as possible to prepare for any contingencies. (Energy Crisis, Water Crisis)
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