Foreign Minister Yohei Kono may visit several Middle East nations, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, in early January if he keeps his Cabinet post after today's planned reshuffle, Foreign Ministry sources said Monday.
The biggest objective of a trip to the resource-rich countries would be to strengthen Japan's relations with them to ensure its energy security in the medium and long term, the sources said.
However, they said no formal decision has yet been made on whether the minister will even travel overseas at the start of the year.