Next year, the two countries will celebrate the 140th anniversary of the establishment of friendship
Serbia and Japan, regardless of geographical distance, nurture great mutual respect, sympathy and interest in learning about cultural heritage and tradition. These two peoples were there for each other in difficult times which made their friendship even stronger. We talked with the Ambassador of Japan H.E. Takahiko Katsumata about the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima accident, cooperation with Serbia, as well as the Olympic Games that should be held in the summer.
The relations between Serbia and Japan are good. After the Fukushima tragedy, Serbia was one of the countries that gave the biggest amount of help to Japan, and subsequently, the visas were abolished. How do you assess the political relations today?
Just ten years ago, on March 11, 2011, Japan was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake which caused tremendous casualties and damages. This was indeed an unforgettable tragedy of the history of Japan, however, the Japanese people also never forget the warmest sympathies and supports from Serbian people at the time of the tragedy. Japan has also extended economic and humanitarian assistance toward Serbia immediately after the most difficult times of Serbia in the late 1990s. I believe these are the proofs of our long-standing friendship.
“Next year, the two countries will celebrate the 140th anniversary of the establishment of friendship. I strongly believe that this will be a good opportunity to deepen mutual understanding and friendly relationship between our two countries”
Our relations have been continuously progressing. In 2018, Prime Minister Abe was at an official visit to Serbia and the summit meeting with President Vučić has paved a way to strengthen our bilateral relations and regional cooperation through the “Western Balkans Cooperation Initiative” scheme, which was launched on the occasion of Mr. Abe’s visit. High-level political dialogue has been further activated by the following visits of Foreign Minister Kono to Serbia and Prime Minister Brnabic to Japan in 2019. We are now in the dynamism of our new cooperation.
The best ways to get closer are economic development, culture and tourism. Where do we stand when we are talking about the economic aspects of cooperation?
Yes, economic cooperation is a major driving force to strengthen our relationship. As I mentioned above, the Western Balkans Cooperation Initiative was launched by Prime Minister Abe to promote socio-economic reforms in the Western Balkan countries including Serbia toward EU accession. Based on the Initiative, Japanese economic cooperation focuses not only on the scale or amount but also on the high quality and value for the future of the recipient country and people. In relations with Serbia, there are various cooperative programs are going on, such as ODA finance to environmental protection projects, technical cooperation in prevention of natural disasters, grassroots grant programs for local communities, capacity buildings and education in priority spheres. In parallel with inter-governmental economic cooperation, FDI from Japan is sharply increasing in recent years, and now nearly 30 Japanese companies are doing business in Serbia. Japanese companies are eager to find new investment opportunities in Serbia with much potential and located in the crossroads of the region. They are creating new manufacturing bases, employment, promotion of clean energy and waste disposal in the environmental field.
For instance, in Sofia and Moscow, I saw many Japanese restaurants, much more than in Serbia. How can we improve economic cooperation?
Food is one of the most important tools to understand the characteristics of a country’s culture. “Sushi” is now one of the most popular cuisines in the world with many attractiveness like its healthiness, handiness and taste of freshness which have been created in Japanese lifestyle. In order to understated each other’s food culture, the first step is to taste the food and enjoy its flavor. Similarly, in the field of economic cooperation, the first step is to have a good understanding of the characteristics of each other’s products and services, the level of technology, and business ethics. The Embassy of Japan would like to provide Serbian people with more opportunities to understand our economy and culture and its backgrounds.
It seems that the Serbs are really into Japanese culture and it is very much appreciated. J-Pop is quite popular, manga and anime have thousands of fans, Japanese is taught frequently. Can we make cultural cooperation even better?
I am grateful to see that many Serbian people are interested in Japan and students are actually studying the Japanese language and culture. Pop culture is a center of interest of Serbian youths. Sports is also a good platform for the exchange of our people. Now the top tennis players are from Serbia and Japan! Next year on the 140th anniversary of our friendship, it will be a great opportunity to even promote cultural cooperation. We would like to cooperate with Serbia to make this anniversary a milestone for the further evolution of bilateral relations.
What can we do to make it popular among Japanese tourists and vice versa?
Serbia and its neighbors are rich in tourism resources. Kalemegdan and magnify rivers are spectacular for foreign tourists. Japan as well has been successful in doubling and tripling the inbound tourists from all over the world in recent years. I’m confident that we can make good coordination in the tourism.
“I’m confident that we can make a good coordination in the tourism”
I hear that the Serbian embassy in Japan is holding online events in cooperation with the Friendship Association to inform Japanese people about Serbian culture. Currently, it is still difficult to travel overseas due to the influence of the COVID-19, however, we have many opportunities to obtain various information online and interact with each other. Embassy of Japan in Serbia actively disseminates information about our culture and tourism by official Facebook page (JapanEmb.Serbia ) and Instagram ( ambasada_japana_u_srbiji ). I hope these activities will be useful for promoting tourism in both of the two countries.
The delayed Olympic Games are rescheduled for this summer. How the situation is going on?
As you mentioned, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic was rescheduled to this summer and the Japanese Government and all people concerned are now making utmost efforts to open the Games as scheduled. With the Olympic Torch Relay beginning on 25 March, and 18 test events taking place from April onwards, momentum is now being built up and preparations are going on in Japan. Also, the organizers are now working to implement a flawless system of preparations for the Games, in order to make the Games safe and secure. The United Nations and the G20 land the G7 leaders also declared that they would support Japan to host the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 this summer as a symbol of global unity in overcoming COVID-19.
What are the economic consequences of the delay so far and do you expect spectators and visitors to flock to Tokyo this July?
I am not in a position to evaluate the economic influence of the delay of the Games, but what I can say is that now the global society is fighting against the current pandemic crisis, and Japan as the host country of the Olympic Games is doing all necessary preparations in cooperation of the relevant organizations and the global community to realize it. As a matter of spectators and visitors to the Games in Tokyo, I understand that the necessary format and guidance will be worked out as soon as possible through the decision process of responsible organizations and people to realize safe and secure Games.
How do you assess the difficulties and challenges for this year’s Olympics from a health point of view?
As we all know, the fight against the virus is a tough and challenging one. However, as IOC President Mr. Bach mentioned, since last year many international sports events have been organized and no single one of these events turned into a virus spreader. All of them had rigorous health and safety protocols in place. This means we have clear and obvious proof that very big international sports events with a large number of international participants can be organized while safeguarding the health of everyone as long as the organizers take every measure they can.
“Japanese companies are eager to find new investment opportunities in Serbia”
Regarding the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as the largest international sports event, all efforts have been and will be made in order to take effective countermeasures and thus deliver safe and secure games this summer. I wish understandings and support allow you.
How do you assess the difficulties and challenges for this year’s Olympics from a health point of view?
As we all know, the fight against the virus is a tough and challenging one. However, as IOC President Mr. Bach mentioned, since last year many international sports events have been organized and no single one of these events turned into a virus spreader. All of them had rigorous health and safety protocols in place. This means we have clear and obvious proof that very big international sports events with a large number of international participants can be organized while safeguarding the health of everyone as long as the organizers take every measure they can. Regarding the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as the largest international sports event, all efforts have been and will be made in order to take effective countermeasures and thus deliver safe and secure games this summer. I wish understandings and support allow you.