TOKYO, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to establish a new ministerial post to oversee Japan's economic cooperation with Russia, local media reported on Thursday, quoting government source.
Hiroshige Seko, minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, is to double as the new Russian economy cooperation minister, said Japan's Kyodo News.
Abe is to visit Russia from Friday where he is slated to hold talks with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in the port city of Vladivostok.
He is reportedly to discuss with Putin an eight-point economic cooperation proposal, in the hope that it would create an atmosphere for realizing Putin's visit to Japan by the end of this year and advance talks with Kremlin on a territorial dispute involving four Pacific islands.
Russia and Japan have not signed any peace treaty since the World War II mainly due to their long-held disputes over four Pacific islands called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.
