Welcoming the Japanese Ambassador, the Head of the PFG with Japan Goran Ciric thanked the Embassy and Government of Japan for the cooperation and assistance they extended to the people of Serbia in times of great challenges. He informed the Ambassador that the MPs were very interested in joining the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Japan, which in the current legislation comprises 35 members. Ciric added that there is room to intensify economic cooperation, outlining the 125 years of excellent bilateral relations between the two countries. He stressed that the PFG with Japan values its friendly relations with Japan very highly and thanked Japan for the support it provides to Serbia on path to the EU.

Japanese Ambassador Juichi Takahara presented the many years of traditionally good cooperation between Serbia and his country and informed the PFG members that according to statistical data 145 citizens of Japan are currently residing in Serbia, and 180 Serbs in Japan. He also drew attention to the well-developed tourism saying that last year Serbia was visited by 5,196 Japanese. He reminded that the Government of Japan through project POPOS (Japanese non-refundable aid for basic human needs projects) in Serbia had helped the development of primary healthcare, primary education, welfare and environmental protection, not to mention Japan’s assistance after the devastating floods in 2014. He hopes that the two countries’ cooperation will continue to follow the upward trend, adding that there is ample room to continue developing economic relations, tourism, cultural and sports cooperation.

The Japanese Ambassador said that there are currently two Japanese companies operating in Serbia – JTI (Japan Tobacco International) and Panasonic, employing about 300 Serbian citizens, and added that Japan has sent experts into Serbia to help advance investments. The Ambassador said that another factory is expected to be opened in 2017, which would, by 2019, employ about 1,700 citizens of Sabac.

The members of the Parliamentary Friendship Group shared some new ideas on how to deepen economic relations, especially as regards the export of Serbian agricultural produce into Japan.