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CEBU, Philippines : Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced a two billion dollar aid package to help Asian nations develop energy-saving technology and ease the region's dependence on oil.
Abe unveiled the offer at a one-day summit of Asian leaders aimed at improving energy security and looking at alternatives to costly fossil fuels, including nuclear power and biofuels.
"For the purpose of eliminating poor access to energy in East Asia countries, we will offer two billion dollars of aid," Abe told the closed-door meeting, according to a Japanese official.
Japan is a frontrunner in energy-efficient technologies as the resource-poor nation has been seeking to reduce its oil consumption, which relies mostly on imports from the Middle East, since the oil shock of the 1970s.
"We've been telling our fellow Asian countries that energy-saving is the key," a Japanese official said.
"Japan has cut roughly 30 percent of its energy consumption in the past three decades since the oil shock, whereas progress in the development of alternative energy is not impressive so far," the official said.
Abe offered the aid package at the East Asia summit, a half-day gathering of leaders from 16 regional countries -- the 10-country ASEAN bloc plus Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Summit leaders were expected to endorse a plan to move toward alternative energies and improve energy security.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - AFP /dt
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