Japan will send a 150-strong economic mission to Russia late next month for talks with Russian officials and business leaders on expanding bilateral economic exchanges, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
The mission, led by Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), Japan's biggest business lobby, will break up into three groups and visit various parts of the country from May 30 to June 9, the officials said.
The groups, covering the fields of European Russia, Far East Siberia and science and technology, will stop at St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Irkutsk and other locations before meeting in Moscow, the officials said.
In the Russian capital, the mission members will meet President Vladimir Putin and hold talks with representatives of the government and the private sector, they said.
The mission is a result of Putin's invitation to Imai to visit Russia when the president visited Japan in September.