Japan working on joint economic activity with Russia on Southern Kuril Islands

TOKYO, July 14. /TASS/. The Japanese government opened a meeting of the council for joint economic activity with Russia on the Southern Kuril Islands on Friday to discuss the outcome of the first visit of the Japanese delegation of officials and businessmen to this territory. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said ahead of the consultations that Tokyo is currently actively working on this issue amid the preparations for a summit at the third Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s Vladivostok. "The trip of a research group to the four northern islands made a significant contribution to discussing the issue of a joint Japanese-Russian economic activity. Japan will continue an active work on this issue as part preparing for a meeting at the highest level that should take part in the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September this year," he said. "I thank everyone for your hard work in this trajectory and I expect that it will continue in the same way," Kishida said. According to the foreign minister, ahead of another meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin there is the need to discuss in detail many other issues linked to carrying out economic activity, including the law-related issues. The meeting is also attended by Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Hiroshige Seko and Eiichi Hasegawa, a special adviser to the prime minister, who led the Japanese delegation during the trip to the Southern Kuril Islands. A delegation of 69 Japanese government officials and businessmen visited the Kunashir, Iturup and Shikotan islands of the South Kuril Archipelago on June 27 - July 1. The delegation assessed the infrastructure facilities and explored the possibilities for implementing joint projects. They visited 64 facilities, including hospitals, power stations, sports centers and a hotel currently under construction. Consultations with Russia on the outcome of this trip at the level of deputy foreign ministers will take place in late August in Moscow. The agreement on this was reached after Abe’s meeting with Putin at the G20 summit in Germany’s Hamburg last week. Read more