Japanese may increase investments in N.Z.

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32493, 31 December 1970, Page 1

Japanese may increase investments in N.Z.

Japanese financial leaders will soon examine the possibilities of substantially increasing Japan’s direct investments in Australia and New Zealand and economic aid to South-East Asia, says an N.Z.P.A.«Reuter report from Tokyo.

A spokesman for the mission, which will have official status, said it might make some specific commitments about Japanese assistance to South-East Asian countries.

Leaving Japan on January 18, the 37member mission will visit the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, where it will split into two groups. One group will visit Indonesia, Burma, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; the other will go to Australia and New Zealand. The mission will return to Tokyo on February 13.

The spokesman said that Japan intended to increase its aid to the developing nations to 1 per cent of its gross national product by 1975. This would probably be about SUS4SOOm in 1975, of which about s2ooom would be for South-East Asia, he said. « The spokesman also said that Japan was encouraging direct private investments overseas in view of a sharp rise in its foreign exchange holdings. Assurances wanted He said, however, that leaders of Japanese banking and securities circles would like to be sure that Japanese economic aid to the developing nations would not be wasted “like water poured over sand.” The mission will be headed by Mr Teiichiro Morinaga,

president of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with Mr Isao Masamune, president of the Industrial Bank of Japan, as deputy leader.

South-East Asian countries might not be content with vague promises made by the mission, which would thus have to make specific commitments in some cases, the spokesman said. The mission would like to make a general survey of trade and investment possibilities in Australia and New Zealand as well.

He said, however, that the mission had no intention of discussing, any specific plans for listing Japanese stocks on Australian or New Zealand exchanges or floating equity in the Australian interest of Japanese companies. The official title of the mission was the “South-East Asian loan and investment mission”. This, he said, should indicate the major ob-

jectives of sending out such a group.

Australian comment In Sydney, the “Financial Review” said that the mission would make the trip against a background of burgeoning Japanese foreign exchange holdings and an increasingly relaxed policy toward foreign investment in Japan and Japanese investment abroad. Tokyo reports, according to the “Financial Review" say that the mission will investigate the possibility of

Japanese stocks being listed on Australian and New Zealand exchanges. This, it said, suggests that plans to float off equity ip the Australian interests of Japanese companies may be well advanced. The "Financial Review” adds: “The visit, organised under Japanese Government auspices, is clearly k further step in the internationalisation of Japanese investment and potentially has far-reach-ing implications for Australia.”

It is a sequel to the lifting of the ceiling on direct overseas investment by Japanese companies last September fromsl7B,soo to $892,900.