(YouTube/DefenseWebTV)TOKYO - Defence firms will put out their wares on Monday at Japan's only dedicated arms show, a site for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to promote industrial military ties that will bolster the country's influence in Southeast Asia. Abe's government wants to make arms sales and military technology collaboration a new plank of Japanese diplomacy in Southeast Asia as it counters China's growing influence in the South China Sea. In 2014, Abe ended a decades-old arms export ban, partly to cut procurement costs by widening arms production, but also, for the first time since World War Two, to allow Japan to offer arms technology as a lure for closer military ties. The small Southeast Asian arms market is growing as economic growth boosts defense spending. "The only thing that really matters in Southeast Asia is cost and China will offer at low cost," said Paul Burton, director of aerospace, defence and security at IHS Markit in Singapore.

Source: Bangkok Post June 11, 2017 09:45 UTC