Hatoyama will tell Premier Nguyen Tan Dung that Japan “has high standards for our technical abilities and provides economic support for its civilian efforts,” Hirano said at a briefing today in Tokyo.

Hirano, Japan’s top government spokesman, denied that the letter was an effort to duplicate South Korea’s success in winning a $20 billion contract from the United Arab Emirates in December. South Korean President Lee Myung Bak visited the UAE the day before the project was awarded.

“This has nothing to do with learning from the South Korean government,” Hirano said.

Hatoyama’s administration has stepped up its involvement in Southeast Asia in an effort to boost economic ties. Japan pledged at least 500 billion yen in aid to five countries that share the Mekong River at a November summit in Tokyo.

Japan’s government will establish a joint venture with Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other companies to help win nuclear power plant contracts overseas, Nikkei English News reported on Dec. 27, without saying where it obtained the information.

By Takashi Hirokawa - Bloomberg - March 1st, 2010