WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- Senior U.S. and Japanese diplomats have held talks to set the stage for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi later this month, the State Department said Tuesday.

Michael DeSombre, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, held a series of meetings with senior Japanese officials in Tokyo, agreeing to step up cooperation in areas such as regional peace and supply chain security, according to the department.

Ahead of Trump's meeting with Takaichi at the White House, scheduled for March 19, the Japanese diplomats he met with included Yutaka Arima, director general of the Foreign Ministry's policy bureau, and Masaaki Kanai, who leads Asian and Oceanian affairs at the ministry.

The department also said the top U.S. diplomat for East Asian policy held talks with Hiroki Sekine, a senior executive managing officer of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

"We welcome Japanese investment, deeper critical minerals cooperation, and new shipbuilding partnerships that strengthen our economic security and create jobs," it wrote on X, referring to DeSombre's meeting with Sekine, global head of infrastructure at the government-backed bank.

It will be Takaichi's first trip to the United States since she became prime minister in October.

Trump has been pushing for Japanese financing of business projects in the United States, and the matter is likely to come under the spotlight during the White House meeting.

Following tariff threats from Trump, the two countries reached a deal last summer under which Japan will provide $550 billion in finance for U.S. strategic sectors, such as semiconductors and critical minerals.