Japan mulls financing body to boost weapons exports

The Japan government is considering the creation of a financing arm for weapons exports, a move that would accelerate Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s shift away from the country’s pacifist past and strengthen its regional security ties as China’s military power grows.
As a first step, the government plans to convene an advisory panel to consider specific proposals to create a way to finance military sales by Japanese firms and fund defense industry cooperation abroad, according to four people involved in the matter.
A number of potential deals under discussion in recent months could benefit from concessional financing from Tokyo. They include a possible sale of state-of-the-art submarines to Australia, US-2 patrol seaplanes to India and the development in Japan with foreign companies of a troop-carrying helicopter.
japantimes