ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he is pleased to see that trade between Russia and Japan has grown considerably during the past years.

    During his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the sidelines of the G8 summit, Putin pointed out that bilateral trade had grown by 70 percent in 2004 and by 30 percent in 2005 year-on-year.

    Koizumi, meanwhile, called for doubling bilateral trade in the next five years, noting that the number of Japanese companies working in Russia had grown from 60 to 130 in the past five years.

    "If we sign a peace treaty, the number will increase further," he said.

    "We would welcome this," the Russian president replied.

    The Russian leader advocated stepping up efforts to simplify the visa regime.

    "We have long been mulling over the idea of a visa-free regime, which would encourage contacts between our nationals," Putin said.

    Russia, which hosts for the first time a G8 summit, has put global energy security, education and the fight against infectious diseases on the top of agenda. Enditem