Finance Minister Naoto Kan will make his international debut this weekend when he attends a meeting of the Group of Seven developed nations in Canada's far north, at a time when the global economy is slowly emerging from a serious recession.
Kan, who became finance chief in early January, will for the first time jointly meet with his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
Analysts say the two-day meeting starting Friday in Iqaluit will be a good opportunity to find out whether Kan, also deputy prime minister, has the ability to debate major economic issues in the international arena.