Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi plans to visit the Philippines and Indonesia in early May, where he is expected to discuss the expansion of security cooperation and defense equipment exports.

According to multiple Defense Ministry sources, Koizumi plans to travel to the two countries during the Golden Week holidays in May for talks with Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro and Indonesian Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

The visits come as the Japanese government plans to revise, as early as April, the operational guidelines for the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology.

The revision will start with abolishing the five categories that limit the purpose of arms exports to rescue, transport, warning, surveillance and minesweeping.

Koizumi is expected to discuss Japan’s defense equipment exports during the visits, with the abolishment of the five categories in mind.

The Philippines urgently needs to strengthen its naval power due to confrontations with China in the South China Sea.

The country has shown an interest in used Abukuma-class frigates from the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and it is expected that discussions on their export will accelerate during the talks.

Japan has already exported air surveillance radar systems to the Philippines and is also arranging to export a system for information processing and command and control.

Indonesia has also reportedly shown an interest in used Japanese submarines.

Separately, Koizumi is arranging a trip to Melbourne, Australia, in mid-April for talks with Richard Marles, the Australian deputy prime minister and defense minister.

A contract is expected to be signed by the end of March for an enhanced version of the MSDF Mogami-class frigate, which was selected for the Royal Australian Navy’s new ship acquisition plan.

The two ministers are also expected to discuss a maintenance and servicing framework for the frigates.

(This article was written by Mizuki Sato and Ryo Kiyomiya.)