Serbia national day

Nenad GlisicAmbAssAdor of the republic of serbiA to JApAN

Withgreathon-our i expressmydeepestad-miration andrespecttoTheirimperial Maj-estiesemperorakihito andempress Michiko, the mem-bersoftheimperialfamily,aswell as Prime Minister H.e.Shinzo abe, the governmentandfriendlypeopleofJapan,ontheoccasionoftheNation-aldayofSerbia.iwouldalsoliketotakethisopportunitytogreettheesteemedreadersofThe Japan Times and extendmybestwishestoSerbianciti-zensresidinginJapan.

FriendlytiesbetweenSerbiaandJapanhavealonghistory.Thisyearwemarkthe133rdan-niversary of the first officialcommunication between ourtwocountries.inapersonallet-terin1882,KingMilanObre-novicinformedemperorMeijithatSerbiagainedinternation-alrecognitionattheberlinCon-gressin1878,andthathehadbecome the Serbian king. inturn,emperorMeijiexpressedhis congratulations to Obre-novic,andthisexchangeoflet-

tersbetweenthetwosovereignsrepresents the first officiallychanneledcommunicationbe-tweenSerbiaandJapan.

SerbiaseesJapanasoneofitsmost important partners andfriends,andplaceshighprior-ityonfurtherstrengtheningbi-lateraltiesinallareas,includingtheeconomy,culture,science,sportsandpeople-to-peopleex-changes.Withgoodpoliticalre-lationsasastartingpoint,Serbiaislookingforwardtothefurtherstrengtheningofeconomictiesbytryingtobringintothecoun-tryleadingJapanesecompaniesandinvestorsandintroducingtothemthevariouspossibilitiesSerbiahastooffer.

regardingitspathtowardtheeu,asoneofthecountryspo-liticalpriorities,ahistoricstepwas reached in January 2014when the european Councilconfirmedthedecisionofeuministerstoopenaccessionne-gotiations with our country.Thismarksanewphaseinrela-tionsbetweenSerbiaandtheeuandgivesafurtherimpetusto the implementation of re-forms, to which the Serbiangovernmentisfullycommitted.Keeping in mind the impor-tance the Japanese businesscommunityattributestotheeuintegration,wesincerelyhopethenewestdevelopmentswill

further encourage Japanesecompaniestoseekmoreoppor-tunitiesinSerbia.besidesthat,SerbiaisthisyearchairingtheOrganizationforSecurityandCo-operationineurope,havingthusanimportantresponsibil-ityattheinternationallevel.

economicrelationsbetweenSerbiaandJapanarecontinu-ingtodevelopinmanyareas,andhaveledtoanincreaseinexports from Serbia to Japan,whileraisingagrowinginterestofJapanesecompaniesintheSerbianmarket.Thefirst-evervisitofaKeidanrendelegationin2014isanimportantsignal

inthatdirection.WealsothanktheJapaninternationalCoop-erationagencyandotherJapa-nese government institutionsforinfrastructureloans,greenvehicle donations and non-project grant aid, which haveproventobeasignificantsup-porttotheSerbianeconomy.

ThemostprominentSerbianproductinJapanisfrozenrasp-berries,whichareprobablythebestintheworld.Togetherwithother categories, agriculturalproductscomprise53percentofSerbianexportstoJapan.Theup-and-comingSerbianiTsec-tor,whichischaracterizedby

highlevelofdevelopmentandexpertise, has proven to be agoodfitforJapaneseSMes.

as seen in 2011, after theGreat east Japan earthquake,thesolidaritybetweenthetwonationshasonceagainprovedtobeverystrongwhenneededthe most. after disastrousfloodshitSerbiaandtheregioninMay2014,theJapanesegov-ernment pledged 5 millionwhile the Japanese people,NGOs,sportsteamsandalargenumberofcompaniesdonatedapproximately2million.ManyJapaneseknewofSerbiashelpin 2011 and were more than

readytohelptheSerbianpeo-pleintheirtimeofneed.Thismutualhelpandunderstand-inghasbecomearealsymbolofthetrueandlastingfriend-shipbetweenthetwonations.

Culturalexchangescontinuetoflourishandtherewerenu-merousculturaleventslastyearwithfamousSerbianartistsper-forminginJapan.TheembassyorganizedmanyculturaleventsandSerbianboothswerepartof many fairs. Many of theseeventswereheldincooperationandwiththekindassistanceofthe Japan-Serbia associationandtheassociationforPromo-

tion of Music exchange be-tweenJapanandSerbia.

itismygreatpleasuretore-callthatafteryoheiSasakawawas recognized in 2013, 2014sawprofessoritsukoTeruoka,formerlyofSaitamauniversity,alsoawardedwithahighdeco-rationbestowedbythepresi-dent of our country for hercontributionsinhumanitarianactivities.itismydeepconvic-tion that the future will bring

evenmoreopportunitiestoen-richourrelationsatalllevels.

inconclusion,iwouldliketoexpress once again my grati-tudetoTheJapanTimesforgiv-ing me the opportunity toaddressthepubliconthisjoy-ousoccasion.iwouldalsoliketo thank all those Japanesefriendsandassociatesengagedindeepeningourmutualun-derstanding and developingourbilateralrelations.

long history of friendly bilateral relations, spirit of cooperation ichiro AisawapresideNt, JApAN-serbiA pArliAmeNtAry frieNdship leAGue

i would like to extend my sincere congrat-ulations on the occasion of the National day of the republic of serbia.

Japan-serbia diplomatic relations began in 1952 with yugoslavia, the prede-cessor of serbia. bilateral exchanges have been active, as seen in the increas-ing investments by Japanese companies in recent years and the successful Japan tour of a serbian folk dance company last year.

the people of serbia, who are regarded as friendly toward Japan, extended helping hands to the sufferers in the aftermath of the Great east Japan earthquake and tsunami, which resulted in large monetary donations from serbia.

When serbia suffered flooding last year, it was a pleasure to observe assistance activities for serbia gain momentum in Japan in thanks for the serbian peoples supportive efforts for Japan when it suffered the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

i pray the relationship between the two countries will further develop this year.

Assistance in times of need

Above, Serbias Novak Djokovic is currently ranked the worlds No. 1 mens singles tennis player; right, Serbian countryside. embAssy of serbiA

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