The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will take more risks to help companies win overseas projects after they lost bids in Abu Dhabi and Vietnam, the head of the state-run lender said.

"We are going to take risks that cannot be taken by the private sector," Hiroshi Watanabe, president and chief executive officer of JBIC, said in an interview last week in Tokyo. If the government decides JBIC needs to do more, "we're ready for that and we're going to take necessary action."

Japanese firms lost out to South Korea and Russia for projects in developing nations, a blow to a country that is trying to expand business abroad to offset declining demand at home. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama wants the lender to increase the chances of companies including Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) to win business for U.S. President Barack Obama's railway project.