Mongolian Prime Minister Mendsaikhani Enkhsaikhan will in late February make his first visit to Tokyo since he took office following last June's landmark election in which his opposition coalition ousted the former Communists from power, Japanese government officials said Jan. 14.Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said 41-year-old Enkhsaikhan will, at the invitation of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, make a five-day trip to Tokyo from Feb. 22 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.Enkhsaikhan's visit to Japan will be the first by a top Mongolian leader in more than three years. Mongolian Foreign Minister Shukheriin Altangerel will accompany the prime minister on his visit, the officials said.In his meetings with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and other Japanese leaders, Enkhsaikhan is expected to ask for increased Japanese economic aid and private-sector investment in Mongolia -- an impoverished, landlocked Asian nation of about 2.4 million people. Hashimoto is expected to pledge continued Japanese support for Mongolia's democratization and market-oriented economic reforms.Altangerel and his Japanese counterpart, Yukihiko Ikeda, will sign official documents on Japan's provision of 5.5 billion yen in low-interest yen loans for the modernization of two coal mines, Baganuur Coal Mine, the largest in Mongolia, and Shivee Ovoo Coal Mine, and 2 billion yen in so-called non-project grant-in-aid, the officials said.
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