The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) have agreed on key terms and conditions for establishing a joint Russia-Japan Investment Fund (RJIF).

The fund will see the two parties jointly pursue investment projects as part of trade, economic and investment co-operation between the two countries.

The development was announced on the sidelines of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week. RDIF and JBIC signed the memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the new fund, earmarked at ¥100bn (US$900mn),  in December 2016.

The fund will focus on sectors which were specified in an eight-point proposal presented by Abe to Putin in May 2016. They include healthcare, the development of clean cities, energy, technologies, developing industries and export bases in the Russian Far Eastern District, as well as other initiatives that are aimed at strengthening trade and economic relations between the two countries

CEO of RDIF, Kirill Dmitriev, says: “We already see a steady interest from our Japanese partners in increasing the investment co-operation. I am confident that the investment partnership between RDIF and JBIC will accelerate the development and diversification of the trade and economic relations between Russia and Japan.”

The fund is the latest in a series of actions, as reported by GTR, taken by state-owned JBIC to boost ties with Russia, stretching back to 2015.

Tokyo aims to use greater economic co-operation to aid negotiations with Russia over disputed islands off Hokkaido, but Russia has been more tentative in stepping into territorial talks.