Japan, Russia Sign More Economic Cooperation Agreements

Tokyo, April 27 (Jiji Press)--Japan and Russia signed about 20 agreements on Thursday to promote bilateral economic cooperation in areas such as medical care and urban development. The signing took place on the sidelines of a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The agreements, including both public- and private-sector deals, were based on an eight-point economic cooperation plan put forward by Abe during his meeting with Putin in May last year. Thursday's signing brought the number of bilateral economic cooperation agreements to some 100. Japan hopes that promoting economic cooperation with Russia will help achieve a breakthrough in stalled territorial talks between the two countries over northwestern Pacific islands. The latest agreements include setting up a disease prevention center in Russia using Japanese medical checkup technology at an early date and beefing up Japanese support to neonatal medical care in Russia. In urban development, Japan will assist in the development of the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh including the construction of energy-saving houses and the introduction of an advanced traffic signal system. END