By Larry Jagan BBC South East Asia analyst

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has arrived in Tokyo at the start of an official five-day visit aimed at securing Japanese support for the government's peace bid with the Tamil Tigers.

Japan is currently Sri Lanka's largest donor and it has already said it is eager to support Colombo's peace efforts with more aid.

Prime Minister Koizumi will stress commitment to peace process

The Japanese Government has appointed Yasushi Akashi, a former undersecretary general of the United Nations, as a special envoy to Sri Lanka.

Mr Akashi will be hosting a luncheon for the Sri Lankan prime minister and his delegation in Tokyo on Wednesday.

There is no doubt the Sri Lankan prime minister's main concern on this trip will be to encourage the Japanese Government to increase its support for the peace process.

Commitment

He will be meeting his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi and the Japanese foreign minister Yoriko Kamuguchi during the visit to discuss this.

Special envoy Yasushi Akashi's task is to spearhead Japan's involvement in any reconstruction programme that grows out of the peace process.

Mr Wickramasinghe will also try to boost trade

Mr Akashi was the head of the UN mission which oversaw Cambodia's reconstruction and transition to democracy more than a decade ago after the Phnom Penh government signed a peace deal with the insurgents groups that were threatening to overthrow the government, including the Khmer Rouge.

Mr Akashi visited Sri Lanka a month ago to assess the situation for himself. At the time, he said Japan was committed to providing substantial funds once the peace process had shown tangible results.

Hopes for more aid

Japanese officials now say that the government's policy on overseas development aid has changed in the light of the international war on terrorism and financial assistance will now be given to secure and maintain peace.

To underline Japan's involvement in the Sri Lanka's peace process, the March round of peace talks will be held in Tokyo.

Two months later, in May, Japan will host a major conference of donors, along the lines of the Afghanistan reconstruction conference that was held in Tokyo earlier this year.

But Mr Wickramasinghe will also be trying to encourage Japanese businessmen to increase their investments in the country.

Analysts believe the prime minister will be trying to interest private investors in the country's power sector.

Already Japan is heavily involved in two major hydro-electric schemes in the country - one in central Sri Lanka and the other south of Colombo.