BANGKOK (Reuters – Japan is set to announce a defense agreement, among other deals with Thailand, on Monday as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits the nation. It will be his final leg of a three-nation trip through Southeast Asia.

Details of the agreement have not been disclosed but it would allow for transfers of defense hardware and technology from Japan and Thailand. Thailand has one of Asia’s largest and best-equipped militaries.

Shikata Noriyuki from Japan, the Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs, said that they were expected to sign an agreement improving customs procedures in Thailand. Tokyo also would lend a 50-billion yen (384.79 millions) loan to Thailand’s mitigation efforts.

For decades, Southeast Asia was a key region for Japan. It hosts some of the most prominent names in the industry from engineering, infrastructure and industrial zones, to manufacturing vehicles and electronic components.

Japan is Japan’s most close ally and America, the United States of America, remains in this region.

Kishida had to meet Prayuth Cha-ocha, his Thai counterpart, late Monday afternoon, before closing the curtains on a brief tour that included stops in Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan, both of which Japan is a significant investor.

Noriyuki indicated that Kishida would talk with Prayuth about the positions of Southeast Asian nations on Ukraine’s conflict and expressed Japan’s support for efforts in the region to resolve the Myanmar crisis.

($1 = 129.9400 yen)