By VIVIAN SEQUERA
 Associated Press Writer

 HAVANA -- (AP) -- Japan is considering increasing its cooperation with Cuba but says it needs guarantees that the government will comply with agreements, the island's Japanese ambassador said Wednesday.

 Developing ``economic relations is the goal that our two countries are hoping for,'' said Ambassador Mutsuo Mabuchi. But ``some obstacles exist on both sides. The biggest difficulty is the different manner of approaching business.

 ``Complying with a contract is essential in running a business. The Japanese side is afraid that the Cubans won't take an agreement seriously.''

 Mabuchi didn't mention specific examples. But other foreign diplomats have complained about business practices in Cuba.

 In July during a visit to the Communist island, Germany's economy and technology minister, Werner Muller, said Cuban authorities promised him they would try to solve any problems that German business officials came across. He said difficulties included the process of hiring Cubans, a slow bureaucracy and high taxes.

 The Soviet Union's collapse a decade ago created a crisis for the Cuban economy, and the county was unable to pay its debts to countries like Japan.

 Cuba and Japan have signed two different agreements -- in 1998 and 2000 -- to reorganize debt payments. The ambassador declined to reveal the amount of those debts.

 However, diplomatic sources have said that Cuba owes at least 30 Japanese companies roughly dlrs 1.3 million.

 The majority of Japanese businesses withdrew from the island, but they began returning after Cuban President Fidel Castro traveled there in 1995 and re-established
 contacts to try to resolve the debt problem.

 Mabuchi said Japan would like to increase cooperation with Cuba on tourism, the environment and agriculture.

                                    © 2001 The Miami Herald