Japan is planning a new financing system to protect the Asian region from the impact of the European credit crisis.

The Japanese government says the system will be based on the foreign exchange reserves of 10 ASEAN countries, Japan, China and South Korea. Japan hopes to play a leading role in stabilizing the Asian economy.

The 13 countries established a multilateral currency swap arrangement after the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
The new system will be modeled after the International Monetary Fund, and loans would be provided before a crisis occurs.

Japan hopes to sign an agreement for the plan at a finance ministers' meeting in the Philippines next May.

Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20111229_16.html

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