[Provisional translation]
On April 15, commencing at 3:00 p.m. for approximately 60 minutes, Ms. TAKAICHI Sanae, the Prime Minister of Japan held an online meeting which was attended by leaders of the Asian region including partners of the Asia Zero-Emission Community (AZEC). The summary of the meeting is as follows:
- At the outset, Prime Minister TAKAICHI stated that the countries most affected by disruptions in the supply of energy and resources passing through the Strait of Hormuz are those in Asia, and it is necessary for Asian countries to work together in responding to this shared challenge because these impacts extend to all countries closely connected through supply chains.
- Furthermore, Prime Minister TAKAICHI announced the launch of of “Partnership On Wide Energy and Resources Resilience (POWERR Asia)”, a new cooperation framework consisting of both emergency responses and structural ones with mid-to-long-term perspectives. This framework aims to cooperate in emergency responses through financing procurement of crude oil, petroleum products, and maintaining supply chains in Asia and addressing structural responses such as establishing stockpiling and release systems as well as the construction and utilization of storage tanks to expand the number of days of crude oil reserves within the region: securing critical minerals and diversifying energy resources such as biofuels; and promoting industrial advancement through and energy-saving initiatives. The support involves financial cooperation of approximately 10 billion dollars, which is equivalent to roughly one year's worth of crude oil imports for ASEAN if converted to crude oil and petroleum product procurement by Asian countries.
- In response, participants including H.E. Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines: H.E. Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia: H.E. Mr. Lawrence WONG, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of the Republic of Singapore: H.E. Mr. Anutin CHARNVIRAKUL, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of the Kingdom of Thailand: H.E. Mr. Le Minh HUNG, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: H.E. Dr. José RAMOS-HORTA, President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste: H.E. Mr. Tarique Rahman, Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh; and H.E. Dr. KIM Min-seok, Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea expressed their appreciation for holding this meeting andwelcomed “Partnership On Wide Energy and Resources Resilience (POWERR Asia)”, confirming that the countries will collaborate to address the current challenges together. Also, after the meeting, a Chair’s Statement was issued.
- These initiatives support the stability of Asian countries and contributes to strengthening Japan, including through the procurement of medical supplies from Asia to Japan. Additionally, it embodies the realization of the evolution of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) advocated by the Prime Minister TAKAICHI administration.
- In addition, this initiative will serve as an opportunity to further develop the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), which aims to simultaneously achieve energy security, economic growth, and decarbonization, by incorporating perspectives on economic and energy resilience.