Working on attracting new Japanese investments to Serbia – Japanese business people to visit Belgrade in October

The trade exchange between Serbia and Japan last year amounted to EUR 330 million, but the goal is for it to reach the level of over EUR 1 billion annually in the coming years. As the minister of domestic and foreign trade of Serbia, Tomislav Momirović, said during the first day of the official working visit of a state business delegation of Serbia to Japan, this can only be done if we attract new investments from that country.

– Our delegation held a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, because we want to accelerate the work on the signing of the bilateral agreement on the protection of investments – he said and estimated that it was one of the ways to intensify the economic cooperation and see new Japanese companies in Serbia, as announced on the website of the Government of Serbia.

The minister pointed out that Japanese companies operating in Serbia had invested more than EUR 500 million in the preceding seven or eight years, and added that much more could be achieved. He said that he expected Japanese businessmen to visit Belgrade in October already, especially those who had not thought about Serbia as an investment destination before.

– We are interested in how to increase the placement of products of companies from Serbia to the Japanese market, but also how to continue developing the operations of our companies and expand the investments, of course, honoring the interests of Japanese companies – Momirović added.

The minister of economy of Serbia, Adrijana Mesarović, presented the range of advantages that Serbia offered to potential investors at the Business Forum in the Japanese Business Federation "Keindaren" in Tokyo. On that occasion, she said that Serbia was working on creating a favorable business environment by simplifying the regulations, reducing the administrative procedures and improving the overall investment climate.

The meeting of the minister of science, technological development and innovation of Serbia, Jelena Begović, and the minister of internal affairs and communications of Japan, Takeaki Matsumoto, was an opportunity to present the potential of Serbia in the field of new technologies and innovations, which, as assessed, could help deepen the cooperation between the two countries.

– We agreed that it is a great potential for the development of the economy, but also for the development of society. The creativity that Serbia has and should be proud of is something that is very interesting to Japan, and we think that it will be a strong bridge between our two countries for economic, scientific, but also cooperation in the field of innovation – the minister stated.

She noted that the shared experiences of Serbia and Japan were related to the legal framework in the areas of development and application of artificial intelligence, as well as ethical guidelines in these areas.

Ministarstvo unutrašnje i spoljne trgovine Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo kulture Republike Srbije

Ministry of Domestic and Foreign Trade of Serbia

Ministry of Economy of Serbia

Ministry of Culture Science Technological Development and Innovations of Serbia

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan

Tomislav Momirović

Adrijana Mesarović

Jelena Begović

Takeaki Matsumoto

trade exchange between Serbia and Japan