The ministry wants to get the yen chosen over the dollar more in business transactions in Asia, because such a shift would support Japanese companies expanding business in the region, officials said.

The ministry also hopes that a wider use of the Japanese currency will contribute to regional financial market stabilization, according to the officials.

As the first of measures to increase the use of the yen, direct exchange of the Japanese currency and Thai's baht will be considered, according to the plan presented Monday at a subcommittee meeting of the ministry's Council on Customs, Tariff, Foreign Exchange and Other Transactions.

Japan will propose the idea at financial talks with Thailand.

China has already set up a market to directly exchange the yuan with the Malaysian and South Korean currencies. To counter the move, Japan needs to come up with ways to increase the presence of the yen in Asia.

At present, the Japanese and other Asian currencies are not exchanged directly because they need to be converted into the dollar first. The process takes time and money. (Jiji Press)