Talks between Russian, Japanese lawmakers boost bilateral projects - lawmaker

TOKYO, January 26. /TASS/. Contacts between Russian and Japanese lawmakers encourage the implementation of bilateral projects and also a search for new areas of cooperation, Federation Council International Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev said at the meeting in Tokyo with Japan’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Manabu Horii on Friday. Kosachev said together with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshige Seko and as part of cooperation between the advisory council and the discussion club, 73 pairs of Russian senators and members of Japan’s House of Councillors have been selected, who represent certain regions that have joint cooperation projects. "We see our objective in, on the one hand, assisting the implementation of the current projects that are agreed chiefly by the Economic Development Ministry and other respective ministries and agencies, and on the other the other hand to find new projects to attract the attention of government structures to them," Kosachev said. These new projects are already discussed, he noted. Japan’s Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs said this year marks the 20th anniversary since signing of the deal on cooperation between the Hokkaido Prefecture and Russia’s Far Eastern Sakhalin region. "Cooperation in a broad range of areas is advancing and over the past years building ties and cooperation in economy has been also accelerating. I highly appreciate this inter-regional cooperation and I believe it is a role model for expanding relations between our countries," Horii said. Lately, Moscow and Tokyo have stepped up dialogue at all levels. The framework for fostering economic cooperation between Russia and Japan is an eight-point plan proposed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in May 2016. It calls for efforts to bolster ties between the two countries in the energy sector, in the small and medium-sized business segment, and in the industrialization of the Far East as well as expanding the export base. Besides, it includes a proposal to bolster cooperation in cutting-edge technologies, including nuclear power, and in humanitarian exchanges. Read more