TOKYO — Japan and the United States agreed during a summit Monday to step up cooperation in developing energy infrastructure in emerging economies to secure reliable and resilient energy supplies.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency signed a memorandum of cooperation with an eye to building the capacity of third countries to choose high quality energy infrastructure.

The signing came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed hope for future bilateral cooperation in energy and infrastructure development as he hosted U.S. President Donald Trump in Tokyo.

It is hoped the agreement will encourage Japanese companies that have strength in geothermal and other power generation technology to expand overseas. The United States, for its part, is seeking to boost exports of liquefied natural gas.

“We agreed to continue our discussion to energize trade and investment between the two countries further and to deepen cooperation over…energy and infrastructure,” Abe said at a joint press conference with Trump.

The two countries plan to cooperate in promoting the development and use of advanced energy technologies, encouraging an efficient and transparent global natural gas market, and building energy-related infrastructure.

In April, Japan and the United States launched a high-level bilateral economic dialogue to discuss issues of concern such as trade, investment and energy.

After the second round of the dialogue in October, both countries said they looked forward to “concrete achievements in a range of energy issues” in the near future.