Japan and Canada agreed Friday to establish an economic security dialogue to reinforce supply chains for critical minerals and energy resources by the end of the year.

They also agreed to establish a dialogue covering cyber policy to discuss growing threats in cyberspace.

The agreements were made between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a bilateral summit as the two countries aim to expand cooperation, from defense to food products.

The two leaders also agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a ¡°comprehensive strategic partnership.¡±

¡°Canada is an important partner for cooperation on economic security, a policy agenda which I¡¯m strongly pushing forward,¡± Takaichi said during a joint news conference with Carney. She called the prime minister by his first name in an apparent effort to showcase their amicable relationship.

Canada is becoming increasingly important for Japan diplomatically and in terms of economic security, and vice versa, as the United States, China and Russia project military power globally.

Canada is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world and an exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It also has an abundant supply of nickel, cobalt, lithium, graphite and copper.

The most important point is that ¡°there is no geoeconomic chokepoint between Japan and Canada,¡± said a Foreign Ministry official who asked not to be named.

Oil tankers from the Middle East, which Japan relies heavily on for oil, need to go through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran says it is blocking, and the South China Sea and the East China Sea, where China is exerting influence.

According to Japan¡¯s energy agency, about 95% of Japan¡¯s imported oil comes from the Middle East, while the country gets the majority of its imported LNG from Australia.

Tokyo is Carney¡¯s last stop of a three-leg tour in the Asia-Pacific covering India and Australia, following his visit to China in January. Canada, traditionally focused on the U.S. and Europe, has been diversifying its diplomatic and economic efforts so that Asia is more heavily weighted, according to its 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy.

In an address to the Australian parliament on Thursday, Carney called on middle powers to unite amid the collapse of international rules-based order.

¡°The world will always be driven by great powers. But it can also be shaped by middle powers that trust each other and act with speed and purpose,¡± he said.

Takaichi is planning to visit Washington later this month to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.

It is Carney¡¯s first trip to Japan as prime minister. He worked in Tokyo in the early 1990s while at Goldman Sachs.