Japanese Companies in Russia Feel Consequences of Anti-Moscow Sanctions

Some Japanese companies working in Russia have felt the impact of anti-Moscow sanctions, Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) Moscow office chief Kunihiro Nomura told Sputnik on Wednesday at the Innoprom-2017 exhibition in Yekaterinburg, expressing hope for broader cooperation. YEKATERINBURG (Sputnik) — Japan is not the only state which suffers from consequences of sanctions for business, Nomura noted. "We conducted a poll among the Japanese companies and some of the respondents noted they felt impact from sanctions," he said, referring to the sanctions that were imposed by several G7 countries, including Japan, on Russia. "As far as I heard of results from such polls among other countries’ companies in Russia, our percentage [in the polls] is about the same as those that Western companies in Russia have. So one cannot say that Japanese organizations suffer more from anti-Russia sanctions than companies from other countries," the Japanese business organization representative said. Still, the Jetro official said that he was optimistic about the development of Russia and Japan’s cooperation in the economic field. "I count on full-scale expansion of economic exchanges between the two countries in the coming years," Nomura said. He noted that Japanese business organizations have not been sufficiently informed about opportunities in Russia. "As an organization that is supposed to promote development of cooperation in trade and investment, we think that in relations with Russia the Japanese side should receive more information about the country, entrepreneurs should come here more often and meet the Russian partners, build ties," Nomura said. The Jetro Moscow office chief also recalled that in 2016, Japanese businesses invested 23 billion yen ($202 million) into the Russian economy, adding that the dynamic of future investment would depend on Russian economic growth and the success of the economic reform measures. In 2014, Japan imposed sanctions against Russia together with the United States, the European Union and some other countries, accusing Moscow of interfering in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia has persistently denied the accusations. Read more: https://sputniknews.com/business/201707121055477533-japan-russia-sanctions-business/