Trade and economic relations were given priority attention at talks with Abe - Putin

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that trade and economic cooperation between Moscow and Tokyo was in the center of attention during talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "Traditionally, priority was given to the prospects for expanding trade and investment relations; gradual growth of mutual trade in January-November last year was noted - the volume increased by 18%, reaching almost $20 bln," Putin said after the Russian-Japanese talks. According to him, "Japanese investment in the Russian economy reaches around $2.2 bln." Putin said that "joint work on implementing initiatives approved earlier continues", including a cooperation plan in eight areas and a list of priority investment projects. Putin noted, "Japanese entrepreneurs invest in many sectors of the Russian economy, actively participate in the work of the St. Petersburg and Eastern Economic Forums." In his opinion, "there is a good base for increasing cooperation in the energy sector." Among the energy projects, the President noted construction of a third technological line for NG production plant for Sakhalin-2 project, possibility of connecting Japanese partners to Arctic LNG-2, Baltic LNG projects and building LNG transshipment complex in the Kamchatka region. "Russian specialists are developing neutron detectors to search for damaged fuel in eliminating the consequences of the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant," Putin added. Read more