Jim Chalmers will travel to Japan to promote Australia as an investment partner, highlighting its artificial intelligence capabilities, renewable energy potential and $4.8 trillion superannuation system to some of the country’s wealthiest investors.
The Australian treasurer is expected to hold more than 20 meetings in 48 hours as he seeks closer economic ties with Japan amid growing uncertainty and changing competition between China and the United States in the Indo-Pacific.
Australia will be presented as an economic partner for other middle-power countries, with Chalmers focusing on areas including critical minerals, industrial decarbonisation and energy.
“Whether it’s in critical minerals, energy, AI or industrial decarbonisation, Australia has a lot to offer and a lot to gain from more trade, more investment, and closer economic ties to Japan,” he said.
Japan investment talks come amid gas tensions
Chalmers will also promote Australia’s superannuation industry as a source of capital for foreign investment. The system is worth $4.8 trillion.
His visit comes at a sensitive point in the trade relationship between Australia and Japan, after Australia’s Labor government introduced a domestic gas reservation policy that has unsettled Japan, the main importer of Australian gas.
The policy was amended to begin in 2028 and will require liquefied natural gas shippers to reserve up to 20 per cent of their export volumes for Australian customers.
Chalmers has pointed to shared economic pressures facing the two countries, including high energy prices that are driving inflation and higher bond yields that are placing pressure on government budgets.
The trip follows a speech by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the United Nations in which he said the post-Second World War international order was no longer fit for purpose.
Mr Albanese said assumptions underpinning the global system since the end of the Cold War were being undermined, requiring Australia to develop new partnerships as rivalry between China and the US reshaped the region.
The visit also follows a diplomatic misstep dubbed “melon-gate”, when Mr Albanese referred to melons presented by Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi while gesturing with his hands in front of his chest.
The opposition called for an apology, but the Japanese government played down the incident. The two leaders later posed for a photograph together at the United Nations meeting in New York in September.
Chalmers is due to travel to Thailand later in October for meetings with G20 finance partners before visiting Hong Kong for talks with Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation counterparts.
