22-08-06 Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to talk about cooperation in energy and the economy with his counterparts in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan during a trip to those countries, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said.
Koizumi's visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will be the first ever by a Japanese prime minister to these countries. Koizumi is scheduled to hold talks with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov.

Koizumi's agenda in Kazakhstan includes promoting the further engagement of Japanese companies in uranium, oil and natural gas projects to enhance Japan's energy security, the MOFA official said.
"Central Asia is an important area for Japan in terms of energy security, because it is outside of the Middle East," said the official.

In January, Sumitomo and Kansai Electric Power signed an agreement with Kazakhstan's state-run KazAtomProm to jointly develop a uranium deposit in the country. The consortium plans to start trial runs at Mynkuduk uranium mine in the south of the country in 2007, then kick off full-scale production as early as 2010, with output projected at 1,000 tpy.
It marks the first time Japanese companies have participated in a uranium mining project in Kazakhstan, and comes in the wake of a visit by a Japanese delegation to the country in late 2005.

The MOFA official said Koizumi's visit aims to promote further cooperation. He added that other Japanese companies are close to signing a new uranium mine development contract.
Kazakhstan has an estimated 850,000 tons of uranium reserves -- the world's second-largest after Australia's 930,000 tons. The official noted that " Kazakhstan also produces oil and natural gas. The prime minister's agenda will also include talks on oil and gas field development, and pipeline construction."

The Central Asian country is welcoming foreign capital to diversify its energy resource market from traditional buyers in Russia and China, said the official.
Japan imports almost all of its energy needs, with roughly half met by oil. The country buys about 90 % of its crude oil imports from Middle Eastern countries. In Uzbekistan, Koizumi plans to focus on issues such as democratization and anti-terror measures, the official said.