Japan will provide emergency yen loans totaling 25 billion yen to support Mongolia’s economy which is suffering from the impact of coronavirus pandemic, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Friday.

Minister Motegi and his Mongolian counterpart, Nyamtseren Enkhtaivan, signed documents on the yen loans at their meeting in Ulaanbaatar, according to Mr Motegi at an online press conference following the meeting.

The Japanese minister also had a meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh on the same day.

In the two meetings, Minister Motegi and the Mongolian officials affirmed their countries’ cooperation to resolve the issues of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and its past abductions of Japanese citizens.

They also agreed to step up bilateral cooperation toward realizing the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.