MOSCOW. March 17 (Interfax) - North Korea has welcomed positive trends in the development of economic projects with Russia and notes the growing interest of Russian companies in them.
"We are glad to note that the interest of such Russian companies as Rusal, Mostovik and Zarechnaya has been growing recently. We have started active consultations on large and promising investment projects in various spheres, including coal extraction, railroad and automobile transportation and the extraction of rare metals," North Korean Ambassador to Russia Kim Yong Jae said at a reception dedicated to the 65th anniversary of signing the USSR-North Korea accord on economic and humanitarian cooperation.
"We welcome these positive trends and express readiness to go ahead with their successful fulfillment," he said.
Visits by a number of high-ranking Russian officials contribute to the further development of economic projects, he said.
"We expect that high-level Russian delegations, including a deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District, the minister for the Far East development and the head of Tatarstan, that without any doubt would become important elements in bringing our bilateral relations to a new level," Kim Yong Jae said.
The visits are expected to take place in mid-March; however, a diplomatic source told Interfax that the exact date of the visits are as yet unknown.
It was reported earlier that Russia's Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka is due to pay an official visit to North Korea in mid-March and meet with North Korea's Foreign Trade Minister Ri Ryong Nam.
A spokesman for the Amur region government told Interfax there is a high probability that an agreement on trade and economic cooperation will be signed between the Amur region government and North Korea's Foreign Trade Ministry either during Galushka's visit or in April.
Kim Yong Jae also noted successful completion of the reconstruction of the Hasan-Rajin railroad and the expected completion of modernization of the third terminal of the Rajin port that "would allow us to launch a transport and logistics project that is a pilot project in economic cooperation between Russia and North Korea."