Upper house speaker calls to restore Russia-Japan trade cooperation

TOKYO, November 1. /TASS/. Negative dynamics in trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Japan raises concerns, Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper house, said on Tuesday. "We are concerned with the negative dynamics in trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Japan," Matviyenko, who is currently paying an official visit to Japan, told journalists. "The main reason behind it is Japan’s involvement in a number of anti-Russian sanctions, imposed by Western countries, as well as the unstable global economic situation." "We see that our Japanese partners and business are not satisfied as well with the decrease in the volume of economic relations," Matviyenko said. The Federation Council speaker stressed that there are possibilities to overcome the current situation and restore the positive dynamics of bilateral trade and economic cooperation. "I believe that Japan’s companies and investors may make a sizable contribution, for example, in fulfilling Russia’s plans on the development of Siberia and the Far East." "We are interested in implementing joint projects with the Japanese businesses in car manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and medical industry, in the sphere of high technologies and infrastructure," she said. Read more