Japan Diet to Pass JOGMEC Reform Bill to Secure Metal Resources

Japanese House of Representatives’ committee on Economy, Trade and Industry passed bill to modify part of low for Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) on Wednesday while some members opposed the bill. The house will pass the bill and the bill is sent to House of Councilors.

The bill enables the government’s guaranty of investment and long term debt when private companies try to secure equity of operating mines of metals including copper, lead, zinc, rare earth and rare earth. The bill includes relocation of JOGMEC’s headquarters from Kawasaki to Tokyo for closer cooperation with ministries.

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Masayuki Naoshima said at the committee Japanese economy needs the bill when Japanese smelters’ financing ability is much less than competitors of offshore resource majors and emerging countries. He emphasized the government should support the private sector through JOGMEC to secure resources for stable supply of indispensable metals.

METI explained to committee the minister will decide if the government should support projects or not after severe screening. METI said JOGMEC will provide risk money to private sectors’ investment in metal mining while Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has function to invest in such projects. JOGMEC will provide such risk money based on around 570 billion yen of debt from the government.