TOKYO, November 17 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Fesyun) - Russia and Japan will draft by the middle of 2006 an action plan to double bilateral trade in the next few years, the Russian economic development and trade minister said Thursday.
"It will set out what has to be done, how the logistics of transport lines will have to be changed, as well as what will have to be done in customs and tariffs policy, and to improve state administration," German Gref said after meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Toshihiro Nikai.
St. Petersburg will host a Russian-Japanese investment forum in 2006 that will be attended by Japan's minister of trade and industry and Japanese businessmen, the minister said.
Gref also said that trade between Russia and Japan in 2005 would hit a record-high of $10 billion, but added that new measures would be needed to invigorate investment and trade further.
The minister said that the investment climate between the countries had considerably improved after Japanese carmaker Toyota decided to set up a plant in Russia.
