YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - The Sakhalin region will open a business mission in Kushiro, a town on Hokkaido Island, which is separated from Sakhalin by the La Perouse Strait. (The Sakhalin region includes Sakhalin and the Kurils. Japan lost the four southern Kurils in World War II and now claims the islands.)
The business mission will be located in the House of Russian-Japanese Friendship and Trade, said the press service of the Sakhalin regional administration.
A delegation of the Sakhalin region including the heads of major fishing companies arrived in Japan to attend the opening ceremony. Sakhalin's Vice Governor Vladimir Godunov heads the delegation.
In addition to the Japanese consulate general in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (the capital of the Sakhalin region), missions of Hokkaido's prefecture, the port of Wakkanai, are open on Sakhalin.
In November 1998, the two neighboring regions concluded an agreement on friendship and economic cooperation to promote the development of Hokkaido-Sakhalin relations.
