Japanese and U.S. government representatives will meet Sept. 14 in Tokyo to discuss promoting direct investment, according to government sources.
The meeting will be the first under a new framework for bilateral economic talks, dubbed the Economic Dialogue. The two governments also plan to hold the first vice ministerial-level talks of the dialogue in Tokyo on Sept. 15, the sources said.
Under an agreement between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President George W. Bush in June, the talks aim to address bilateral, multilateral and regional economic issues by meeting at least once a year in an informal manner.
Koizumi and Bush have agreed to set up four governmental panels and a public-private sector commission to address such issues as macroeconomic policies, trade, investment and deregulation.
The framework follows the Japan-U.S. Structural Impediments Initiative held under the administration of former President George Bush and the Japan-U.S. Framework for New Economic Partnership under former President Bill Clinton.