TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japan is ready to continue efforts on developing economic relations with Russia, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said on Monday.

“I, as the minister responsible for economic cooperation with Russia, uniting the efforts of the Japanese government, am ready to continue efforts to concretise and improve the plan on strengthening economic ties between our countries,” Seko said at a joint meeting of the Japanese-Russian and Russian-Japanese Economic Cooperation Committees in Tokyo.

The cooperation plan aims to improve life expectancy and quality of life for Russians, the minister noted, citing as an example the opening of the Japanese rehabilitation centre in Vladivostok, which has already served almost 2,500 Russian patients.

Moreover, the production of Japanese leukemia fighting drugs will be soon launched in Russia's central Yaroslavl Region, Seko added.

Japan and Russia will also launch a joint venture to produce railway control systems in the Moscow Region, according to the Japanese official.

"In addition to such progress, it is very important to take new measures in the field of energy and strengthen economic ties in the Far East in order to further develop the cooperation plan," Seko stressed.

READ MORE: Russia, Japan Launch Joint Naval Drills in Gulf of Aden — Military

A year ago, the Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East Alexander Galushka said that Japanese investors had contributed over $16 billion in a total of 21 projects in the Russian Far East.

This month, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev said that Japanese and South Korean partners of the RDIF have confirmed readiness to pour investments into a digital project by Russia's Transneft Telecom, envisaging the creation of high-speed submarine telecommunications cables.

Russian-Japanese relations have been on the rise after a range of meetings between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin.