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apan will collaborate with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide around US$110 billion to develop '€œquality infrastructure'€ in Asia over the next five years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday.

The plan to boost such investment by around 30 percent from the previous five years is apparently aimed at taking a lead in the fast-growing region with enormous infrastructure needs, amid the rise of China that is planning to set up a multilateral lending body.

The prime minister said people in Japan are used to choosing good quality products that last a long time, even if prices are a bit high.

'€œIn the long run, we'€™d like to spread quality infrastructure and innovative infrastructure in Asia,'€ Abe said in a speech in Tokyo.

To pursue not only quality but quantity, the Japanese government will cooperate with the ADB, led by Japan and the US, to fund projects, while aiming to draw money from private-sector companies in addition to public funds, he said.

Abe said Japan '€œhighly welcomes'€ the ADB'€™s move to boost lending capacity and consider further increasing its capital as well as expand lending to the private sector.

To expand investment, the government-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will create a new program to supply financing for risky projects, though JBIC has so far provided funds for such projects only with guarantees from local governments, Abe said.

He said Japan wants to share its technology and experience acquired through tackling issues such as poor energy resources and the aging population.

As for energy-saving technology, Abe said Japan has developed technology to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions in coal fired power generation, which would help slash 1.5 billion tons of greenhouse gases annually if the technology is spread to the US, China and India.

Japan'€™s move is seen as intending to show its capabilities in infrastructure development, with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) set to be launched by the end of this year with over 50 founding members.

While major European countries like Britain and Germany are among the prospective founding members, Japan and the US have stayed out of the project, citing concerns over the new body'€™s governance and debt
sustainability.

The prospective founding countries are now holding a meeting in Singapore to discuss terms for the AIIB, with an eye to considerably lifting the initial capital from the earlier planned level of around $50 billion, according to participants at the gathering.

China'€™s investment ratio, initially anticipated to be around 50 percent, could be less than 30 percent as more countries are set to become founding members, they said.