In April 2026, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced the US$10 billion Partnership On Wide Energy and Resource Resilience Asia (POWERR Asia) initiative, which aims to assist Southeast Asian countries’ energy resilience amid the Strait of Hormuz conflict. While Japan’s investment in the region aims to improve economic security and energy resilience, POWERR Asia must do more to address Southeast Asia’s unmet demand for sustainable energy solutions.
In the short term, POWERR Asia aims to finance the procurement of crude oil and petroleum for the Asian region. In the long term, Japan seeks to invest in partner countries’ energy infrastructure by building regional stockpiles and release systems while advancing energy conservation and diversifying energy sources.
The initiative is a product of the region’s growing demand for multilateral opportunities for partnerships. Along with Japan’s investment, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest US$70 billion across Asia’s digital and energy infrastructure. Other regional actors, including South Korea, are also actively developing Southeast Asia’s clean energy supply chains and the green economy. Japan is one of many countries seeking to diversify their portfolios as Beijing prohibited petroleum exports amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
