Greeting the members of the Japanese delegation on the behalf of the National Assembly, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Veroljub Arsic thanked Japan for its assistance after the floods in May last year. Deputy Speaker Arsic said that, besides the improvement of bilateral relations with Japan, Serbia is also interested in boosting foreign trade, stressing the importance of Japanese investment in Serbia.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Veroljub Arsic informed the Japanese parliamentarian about Serbia’s European integration process, saying that the country is committed to cultivating good-neighbourly relations in the Western Balkans region and good relations with all the other countries in the world.

The Head of the Japan-Serbia PFG of the Japanese Parliament’s Lower House Ichiro Aisawa opined that Serbia’s political and economic stability is crucial for the prosperity of the entire Western Balkans.

Speaking of the economic relations between Japan and Europe, Ichiro Aisawa said that Japan would like to establish better economic relations with South East Europe, adding that the economic relations with Serbia could stand to be improved.

The officials agreed that Serbia’s agricultural potential is underutilised, and Deputy Speaker Arsic invited Japanese investors to invest into Serbia’s agricultural sector.

They also noted that Serbia and Japan share friendly relations and that there is room to expand the two countries’ relations into the spheres of education and scientific and technological cooperation.

The meeting was also attended by the Head of the PFG with Japan Goran Ciric who shared the Group members’ commitment to boosting cooperation at the level of Serbia-Japan parliamentary friendship groups.