TOKYO, April 16. /TASS/. Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko, who is in charge of economic relations with the Russian Federation, plans to visit Russia in May.

"St. Petersburg (International) Economic Forum, in which Japan participates as a guest country, will kick off in May. In the same month, a ceremony to roll out the Year of Russia’s Culture in Japan and Japan in Russia will be held. I would like to attend both events together with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe," he said prior to the talks with Russia’s Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov on Monday.

According to the minister, the economic ties between the two countries have been flourishing over the past two years thanks to an eight-point cooperation plan proposed by PM Abe.

Sokolov said he hopes the relations will further strengthen. "Hopefully, the current cooperation in the area of bilateral relations, including transport area, will be only fortifying," he said.

Over the past several years, the economic cooperation between the two countries has been based on a cooperation plan offered by Shinzo Abe at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on May 6, 2016. The plan includes efforts to foster relations between Japan and Russia in the energy sector, small and medium-sized businesses, the promotion of industrialization of the Far East, expansion of the export base, as well as the proposal to strengthen cooperation in the cutting-edge technologies, including nuclear energy, and the sphere of humanitarian exchanges.