January 20, “PortNews”

Japan presented a draft of a new concept of trade and economic cooperation in the Far East and the Arctic

Japan intends to actively participate in the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). According to the press service of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic, this topic was discussed during a meeting between Alexei Chekunkov, the Minister, and Toyohisa Kozuki, the Japanese Ambassador in Russia.

According to Amb. Kozuki, the NSR logistics is 40% more efficient than traditional shipping routes. Japanese companies are already transporting LNG along the Northern Sea Route using LNG carriers.

The launch of a regular container line via the NSR is one of the promising areas of Russian-Japanese cooperation in the Arctic.

Let’s add that since 2019 the “Mitsui – Jogmec” consortium has been participating in the ‘Arctic LNG-2’ project for the production of LNG. The planned volume of Japanese investment in the project is $ 3 billion. The start-up of the first line is scheduled for 2023, with a phased commissioning of the facility in 2023-2025.

Japan has developed and presented to Russia a draft of a new concept of trade and economic cooperation in the Far East and the Arctic. It is aimed at enhancing trade and economic cooperation and involves expanding interaction in several directions at once: such as energy, logistics, fish processing industry, port and transport infrastructure, urban environment, tourism.

Comments: Japan has been reluctant to define its Arctic policy for a long time. Earlier, Japanese shipping companies were skeptical about the idea of transporting goods along the NSR. It is possible that the cabinet of the new Prime Minister Suga has revised the overly cautious policy of its predecessor, Shintaro Abe, in relation to economic, transport and logistics cooperation in the Arctic. And this is logical, because the other NEA powers, China and South Korea, have already engaged in a number of serious projects in the Polar Ocean.