TOKYO, April 27. /TASS/. Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko, responsible for the development of economic relations with Moscow, will visit Russia on April 28-29, as he himself said at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday.
"My visit to Russia, which will take place on April 28-29, will be aimed at advancing the economic cooperation plan ahead of the May meeting of the Japanese and Russian leaders," he said.
Seko is expected to hold a number of bilateral meetings during his visit, particularly with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.
"Russian-Japanese relations have been rapidly evolving. At the end of the week, a working meeting between the [Russian] first deputy prime minister and [Japanese] Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko, responsible for economic cooperation with Russia, is going to take place with the parties discussing issues concerning trade and economic cooperation," a source in Shuvalov’s office told TASS earlier.
Dialogue between Moscow and Tokyo has been increasing in the past two years. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came up with an eight-point plan during his visit to Russia in May 2016, which stipulates that Tokyo and Moscow should strengthen relations in the energy sphere, small and medium-size business, the industrialization of Russia’s Far East, as well as expand exports. The plan also envisages that the two countries should enhance interaction in the cutting-edge technologies field, including the nuclear energy sphere, as well as humanitarian cooperation.