YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, October 31. /TASS/. Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament), Valentina Matviyenko, has left for Tokyo where she will discuss with Japan’s leaders and the heads of both houses of the Japanese parliament the prospects of bolstering bilateral relations and preparations for the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to that country.
The speaker’s official visit to Japan will last from October 31 to November 3. Prior to that, Matviyenko visited Russia’s Sakhalin region where she met with local government officials. "The main issues on the agenda of the meetings with that country’s leadership and Japanese lawmakers were efforts to boost bilateral relations and expand cooperation in all areas, the Federation Council’s press service said.
Discussing cooperation
Matviyenko is expected to discuss the expansion of inter-parliamentary cooperation during meetings with President of Japan’s House of Councillors (upper house of parliament), Chuichi Date, and speaker of the House of Representatives (lower house of parliament), Tadamori Oshima. "Rich and constructive dialogue between Russian and Japanese parliamentarians contributes to promoting the whole complex of bilateral relations," the Federation Council speaker said.
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The participants in the talks will also discuss the prospects for cooperation at the regional level. According to Matviyenko, vigorous exchanges between the two countries’ regions will contribute to the implementation of long-term projects on a national scale. It is planned to hold a meeting between the Russian delegation and members of the House of Councillors’ Discussion Club led Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hiroshige Seko.
Meetings with leader of the New Komeito political party, Natsuo Yamaguchi, Chairman of the Parliamentary Association of Japanese-Russian Friendship and former Japanese Foreign Minister Masahito Komura and representatives of the Council of Friendly Exchanges non-governmental organization.
Preparations for Putin’s visit
In October, Chairman of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee, Konstantin Kosachev (who is a member of the Russian delegation), told TASS that Matviyenko’s visit to Tokyo will be part of preparations for the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan and his meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "To make sure that the visit is meaningful, additional discussion of the current problems and cooperation prospects is required," he said at that time.
Trip to Nagasaki
An important part of the visit by the Federation Council’s delegation to Japan will be a trip to the city of Nagasaki on November 3. The delegation, which, in addition to Matviyenko and Kosachev, includes senators Valery Ryazansky, Alexander Akimov, Dmitry Mezentsev and Valery Ponomaryov, will visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and lay flowers at the Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.