On February 25, DPJ members of the House of Representatives Hiroshi Kawauchi (Chair of the Committee on Land, Infrastructure and Transport in the House of Representatives), Yoshio Maki and Keiro Kitagami, and member of the House of Councillors and Vice Director-General of the International Department Hironobu Yonenaga, met with a bipartisan delegation of five Mongolian parliamentarians led by the Mongolian Democratic Party’s D.Gankhuyag, and held discussions.

Gankhuyag expressed his sympathy with the Hatoyama administration’s vision for an “East Asian Community”, and approval for the start of talks between the governments of Japan and Mongolia regarding the signing of a bilateral EPA. He stressed his hopes that the relationship between Japan and Mongolia would deepen further from now on, and said he wished to lend his cooperation to this effort. Furthermore, he expressed his hopes that there would be increased investment by Japanese corporations in a Mongolia rich in natural resources, and called for the continued provision of ODA by Japan.

The two sides also engaged in a lively discussion regarding the engagement of Japanese corporations in development of the Mongolia mining sector, and both sides confirmed their intention of making efforts to promote the economic development of both nations.