Japan Warns Its Firms to Go Easy on Kuwait Bids : Reconstruction: Tokyo is concerned that after sending no military help to the Gulf, it may be condemned if companies aggressively seek profits.

From the government, the word has gone out to Japanese firms eyeing a piece of the Middle East reconstruction business: Don’t act like a thief at a fire.

Political leaders fear that Japan may again find itself the target of international condemnation if, after sending no troops to the Middle East during the Gulf War, its businessmen leap aggressively to seek postwar reconstruction spoils.

Finance Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto applied the old Japanese proverb against being “a thief at a fire” even to economic aid that he and Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu said the government is willing to extend. Such aid, he declared, must be given in a manner to avoid creating the impression of an “economic invasion.”

Michio Ochi, director of the Cabinet-level Economic Planning Agency, and Eiichi Nakao, minister of International Trade and Industry, echoed the sentiment.

Do not seek windfall profits, Ochi said. Firms should refrain from regarding postwar reconstruction as “a business opportunity,” Nakao advised.

Instead, both Kaifu and leaders of businessmen’s associations have stressed Japan’s willingness to help finance recovery efforts. Without mentioning any sum, Kaifu pledged that Japan will do “all within its power” to contribute to reconstruction in the Middle East.

Kaifu also told Kuwait’s ambassador that Japan will send water, food, medicine and relief goods beginning this week.

The Keidanren (Federation of Economic Organizations) took the unusual step of announcing the day after the cessation of hostilities that it will set up a $7.7-million fund at the Geneva-based Office of the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees. Akio Morita, chairman of Sony, immediately pledged that his firm will contribute $3 million for food and medicine for refugees.

Already, three Foreign Ministry officials have arrived in Washington for consultations on what role Japan might play in both the diplomatic and economic arenas. Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama is also planning a Washington trip.

No government official has yet mentioned a specific figure for aid that Japan might offer in addition to the $13 billion it already has pledged, $11 billion of which is to go to the U.S.-led multinational forces.

But already, two leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have urged the government to commit itself to between $5 billion and $10 billion.

Yoshihiko Okamura, executive director of Nomura Research Institute, predicted that financing from Japan could play a crucial role.

“Oil money,” especially from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, will from now on be devoted to Middle East reconstruction at a time when Germany is preoccupied with the costs of reunification and aid to East Europe, Okamura said. That means, he said, that the only “new money” available will have to come from Japan.

Businessmen were reported resigned to being virtually excluded from reconstruction work in Kuwait.

Kuwait awarded the U.S. Corps of Engineers a contract to manage repairs and restore essential service when the fighting ended and ordered it to give preference for subcontracts to firms from countries whose troops helped expel the Iraqis. Already, 36 engineering and construction groups were reported to have been selected to participate in bidding for the projects, including 12 American firms. None was from Japan or South Korea.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, however, said Friday that it will dispatch experts to examine damage at two petroleum-burning electric power plants and related desalination plants that it had been constructing in Kuwait until Iraq’s invasion. The firm, which said it was acting in response to a Kuwaiti request, was also expected to consult on what would be done with a third power plant, the contract for which had been signed just before the invasion.

Before making major moves, Japanese engineering and construction firms were reported planning to wait until order has been restored, feelings toward Japan improve and government aid becomes available.

However, Japanese exports to the Middle East, which plunged 31% in January compared to the same month a year ago, are expected to recover. Auto makers were reported looking forward to an increase in sales, especially in exports of trucks.

South Korea, meanwhile, was sharing none of Japan’s reticence in seeking new Mideast business.

Indeed, President Roh Tae Woo appealed for public support at home for a pledge his government made of $500 million in aid to the U.S.-led multinational forces by saying that the aid would give South Korea an inside track on postwar business.

Already, South Korea has sent a delegation to the Middle East to investigate opportunities for its companies.

Its governmental trade organization, with seven offices in the Middle East, has sent back reports predicting Kuwaiti demand for consumer electronics products, building supplies, construction equipment and automobiles.

Staff writer Leslie Helm in Seoul contributed to this article.