Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s top aid official said the government will likely triple its annual civilian support to Afghanistan to $1 billion as it ends a military refueling mission to the war-torn county.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama should focus assistance on agriculture and urban development, Sadako Ogata, president of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, said in an interview. His decision to stop providing naval refueling vessels in support of U.S.-led forces won’t harm American ties, she said.

“I think the annual amount will be close to $1 billion,” Ogata, 82, said in a Nov. 6 interview at her office in Tokyo. “There are significant expectations for Japan’s civilian power.”

Hatoyama is seeking to boost Japan’s contribution in the region while soothing any U.S. resentment for ending the Indian Ocean refueling mission. Japan has provided about $1.8 billion in Afghan reconstruction aid since 2002, with JICA playing the “central role” by building more than 500 schools, increasing rice production and boosting infrastructure, Ogata said.

“We have so many ways to spend money,” she said.

Ogata, who according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry has visited Afghanistan more than any other senior government official, said the Hatoyama administration is considering how to strengthen that nation’s police, whose salaries are 50 percent funded by Japan.

Security Review

Hatoyama is reviewing Japan’s security policy and seeking “equal” ties with the U.S. after his Democratic Party of Japan in August ousted the Liberal Democratic Party, which had governed for more than five decades.

“Obama administration officials told me they want each nation to contribute by what it can do best and they value support for the Afghan people,” said Ogata, who visited Washington in March as special envoy for Hatoyama’s predecessor Taro Aso. “It’s only natural for a new government to review policy after one party ruled for 50 years.”

Ogata was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1991 to 2000.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net; Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 20:44 EST