Minister of European Integration Nemanja Starović met today in Belgrade with the Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Serbia, Akira Imamura, who is concluding his term of office in our country. The interlocutors exchanged views on cooperation between Serbia and Japan to date, assessing that bilateral relations between the two countries were at a high level and that they continued to develop steadily in a spirit of friendship and mutual respect.
Minister Starović thanked Ambassador Imamura for his personal engagement in further enhancing the mutual partnership relations and highlighted the importance of Japan’s development support for reform processes in Serbia, adding that they contributed to strengthening institutional capacities and improving the everyday quality of life of citizens in many local communities across Serbia.
It was noted jointly that the results of decades-long development cooperation between Serbia and Japan, with total support exceeding EUR 510 million, had made a significant contribution to improvements in the areas of environmental protection, healthcare, education, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and infrastructure. The Minister particularly underlined the importance of Japanese technical and expert support in the reforms that Serbia was implementing in the process of European integration.
Ambassador Imamura also thanked the Minister for the very good cooperation during his mandate, emphasising that Japan was ready to continue supporting Serbia’s reform efforts and its path towards membership of the European Union in the future as well.
