Foreign Minister Katsuya
Okada showed interested Thursday in the possibility of Japanese firms taking
part in natural resource development projects in Mongolia when he met with his
Mongolian counterpart G. Zandanshatar in Hanoi, a Japanese official said.

In talks held on the
sidelines of meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the
Vietnamese capital, Okada said Japanese companies are eager to be involved in
coalfield development and uranium mining in the country, according to the
official.