The parliamentary friendship group with Japan met in the National Assembly House with the Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Serbia H.E. Takahiko Katsumata.
The Head of the PFG with Japan Snezana Paunovic thanked the Ambassador for his expressed interest in cooperation and improvement of cooperation, primarily at the parliamentary level. Highlighting the exceptionally friendly relations between the two countries, dating back to 1882, she said how fortunate it was that these good relations have never been broken.
"However, there is a sensitive topic for the Serbian side, Japan’s recognition of the unilaterally declared so-called Republic of Kosovo. But I want to thank you for abstaining during the vote on so-called Kosovo’s attempts to join international organisations," Paunovic said. She also thanked Japan for its unequivocal support of Serbia's European path.
Paunovic went on to speak about the possibility of improving parliamentary cooperation, Japan’s realised and potential investments into Serbia, cooperation in the field of tourism, the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo and both countries’ successful fight against the coronavirus pandemic. She pointed out that Serbia is in the lead among European countries, in terms of vaccination and what could be considered a visionary approach to that problem.
"Today, we are second only to the UK in the number of vaccinated citizens and we are really proud of our leadership for making huge efforts to achieve this," said Head of the PFG with Japan.
Paunovic suggested organising an "online" meeting, which, in the given circumstances, would be a basic step for connecting with colleagues in the Japanese Parliament.
The Japanese Ambassador congratulated Snezana Paunovic on her appointment as the Head of the Parliamentary Friendship Group and thanked the 71 members who joined the group. He said that he was lucky to be the Ambassador to Serbia at this time, because the two countries have achieved substantial cooperation in recent years, both at the political and economic levels, with the active exchange of visits at the highest state level being one of the leading engines of said cooperation. The Ambassador stressed that it is necessary to activate parliamentary cooperation, pointing out that the Friendship Group with Serbia is interested in cooperation with the Serbian Parliament’s Friendship Group and that he would convey the proposal for an "online" meeting.
Katsumata reminded the hosts of the quick support and help Serbia provided to Japan in the wake of the 2010 tsunami, saying that he was impressed by the hand of friendship Serbia extended and that Japan has always been ready to support Serbia in difficult times.
PFG member and Deputy Head of the “Aleksandar Vucic – For Our Children” Parliamentary Group Sandra Bozic emphasised the importance of the arrival of Japanese companies in Serbia, hoping that the investors who saw Serbia as a good area for product placement and investment would not stop there and adding that she expected the arrival of new Japanese companies into Serbia.
She stressed that she is open for cooperation and conversation, and, as the Chairperson of the Culture and Information Committee, she invited the Ambassador to be the Committee’s guest and help deepen cultural cooperation.
"Our two cultures are very rich, but also very specific, and through the Parliamentary Committee we can deepen our relations in a completely different way," Bozic concluded.
Branimir Jovanovic, PFG member and Head of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia Parliamentary Group, said that economic cooperation is important, but that the friendly aid Japan provided to Serbia was even more so, mentioning the help that Japan provided to Kraljevo in 2010 as an example.
PFG member and Head of the Justice and Reconciliation Party SPP - United Peasant Party USS Parliamentary Group Samir Tandir said that the position of minorities has drastically improved since 2012, thanks to the permanent cooperation with the Government and President of the Republic of Serbia. He also spoke about the importance of Japanese investments, especially Japan's 2018 donation in Prijepolje.
