Russia and Japan to start talks on economic cooperation
Jan. 5, 1998 Japan and Russia are ready to start a series of talks designed to promote economic relations in line
with the agreement reached during a November meeting between Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and Russian President
Boris Yeltsin.
The meetings will include energy consultations to be held in Moscow. The Moscow meeting will cover a project to
develop oil and natural gas off the island of Sakhalin, north of Hokkaido, and a natural gas development project near
Irkutsk, in the Russian Far East. Japanese negotiators will include senior officials from the Agency of Natural
Resources and Energy, and the Foreign Ministry.
Another round of negotiations is set for Tokyo by February to discuss Japan's cooperation to upgrade the distribution
system centred on the trans-Siberian railway. Measures to help Russia's small businesses are also on the agenda of
the Tokyo meeting.