Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe said Friday his ministry will meet next week with Japan's biggest business lobby to exchange views on policies.

The meeting of the agriculture ministry and the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) on Monday will mark the first exchange of views between the ministry and a major business group in almost three years.

The meeting is intended to promote a mutual understanding on agriculture, forestry and fisheries issues and to discuss progress in global trade talks on agriculture under the World Trade Organization, Takebe said.

"I think it is desirable to meet flexibly whenever necessary rather than to meet on a regular basis," he said.

Nippon Keidanren was created in late May through the merger of two of the nation's major business lobbies: the Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers Associations (Nikkeiren).