On June 2, 2022, at the Institute of Social Sciences in Belgrade, a lecture was given by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Serbia H.E. Takahiko Katsumata, on the topic: Serbia and Japan: Investments, Business Culture and Sustainable Development. The lecture was organized by the Center for Economic Research of the Institute of Social Sciences in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan in Serbia. The lecture was very well attended. The year 2022 is the year of the jubilee when the 140th year of friendly relations between Japan and Serbia and the 65th anniversary of the Institute of Social Sciences are celebrated.
H.E. Takahiko Katsumata divided the lecture into two parts: the first, which referred to Japanese economic diplomacy, and the second, which referred to the application of that economic diplomacy in Serbia. The lecture continued with a presentation of Japanese business culture and the growing arrival of Japanese companies in Serbia, and only in 2017, four companies were opened. Japan provides strong support to Serbia in terms of socio-economic reforms, supports the initiative of the Western Balkans, but also strives to join the EU.
The advantages of Serbia are a favorable geographical position, educated workforce and strong support of the Government of Serbia to Japanese companies. Japan will support Serbia in the development of the private sector, small and medium enterprises and environmental protection. Mutual respect and friendship of these two friendly countries, with such an inspiring lecture, can only be strengthened.
Welcoming speech was given by Dr Ognjen Pribicevic, former Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to Germany and Great Britain, emphasizing that Japan has scientific institutions that are among the most developed in the world, and there is a tendency to develop scientific cooperation and exchange researchers.
Masayuki Iwata, who is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The Japanese and Serbian people show mutual solidarity in difficult times. They are religiously similar, Dr Nikolaj Velimirović wrote about it when he wrote about the similarity between Orthodoxy and Buddhism (the foundations of Zen and Shinto). The moderator was Dr Predrag Jovanović, director of the Center for Economic Research.
