Japan and Indonesia have reached an agreement to launch air freight services between the two countries in response to strong demand from firms on both sides, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry announced Wednesday.

Under the agreement, reached in two days of bilateral aviation talks in Tokyo that ended Tuesday, cargo planes will fly between the two countries via a third Asian country, ministry officials said. The airports for Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are candidate stopovers.

The stopovers are to ensure the planes' capacities are utilized as effectively as possible, they said.

The two countries also have agreed to allow national carrier Garuda Indonesia to stop in Osaka and Fukuoka on flights between Japan and Indonesia to carry as many passengers as possible. Passenger demand between Japan and Indonesia's Bali Island has suffered a drop because of a spate of terrorist attacks at the Indonesian resort.