President Klaus Iohannis and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signed on Tuesday in Tokyo the Joint Declaration establishing the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Japan.
The coming into being of the Strategic Partnership with Japan will mark the advancement of Romanian-Japanese top-level cooperation and the transition to a higher stage of capitalizing on the bilateral potential, based on the values and principles shared by the two countries, in particular along three key dimensions: foreign policy and dialogue on security issues, economic cooperation and development assistance, respectively cooperation in the fields of culture, science and technology, innovation, research and development.
The decision to create the Romania – Japan Strategic Partnership was taken five years ago, during the meeting in Bucharest of President Klaus Iohannis with former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
This is Romania’s second strategic partnership with an Asian state, after the one with South Korea.
Romania has strategic partnerships in force with the United States of America, the Republic of Moldova, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
On the same day, a memorandum was signed in Tokyo between Eximbank Romania (the Finance Ministry) and the Japan Bank for Cooperation (JBIC).
On the occasion of the Romanian head of state’s visit to Japan, a memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Magurele-based ‘Extreme Light Infrastructure – Nuclear Physics’ facility, the Japanese company Okamoto Optics and Osaka University’s Laser Engineering Institute. The document will facilitate the construction in Magurele of a production center of high-power optical components to support experimental activities with ELI-NP high-power lasers.
A historic moment in the bilateral relationship between the two countries
President Klaus Iohannis has hailed the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Japan in Tokyo on Tuesday as a historic moment in the bilateral relationship between the two countries, stressing that our country would like to see a substantial increase in Japanese investment in Romania.
“I am extremely honoured to be in the Land of the Rising Sun on the occasion of the establishment of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Japan. The joint declaration that I signed today, together with Prime Minister Kishida, marks a historic moment in our bilateral relationship of over a century. We are thus boosting Romanian-Japanese relations to the highest level. We are entering a new phase, one of exploiting the bilateral potential for the benefit of our countries and citizens on three levels: political-security, economic-financial and cultural-scientific. Together, we are giving a strong signal today that our cooperation is focused on strategic and innovative areas,” said the President of Romania in a joint press statement with the Japanese Prime Minister.
Recalling that Japan is the largest Asian investor in Romania, Klaus Iohannis stressed that our country would like to see a substantial increase in Japanese investment.
“We appreciate the constructive approach of Japanese companies active on the Romanian market, based on principles of sustainability. A concrete example is the contribution of Japanese companies to complex infrastructure projects, such as the construction of the road suspension bridge over the Danube in Braila. We encourage Japan to continue its involvement in connectivity projects, relevant not only for Romania but also for neighbouring countries,” said the Romanian president.
The head of state also said that he voiced Romania’s interest in exchanging experience on technologies developed in Japan for vibration control and seismic resistance.
“We appreciate the key role that Japan plays in disaster risk reduction,” Iohannis said.
“The documents signed today will help facilitate Japanese involvement in innovative energy projects, including nuclear energy. We are talking about the construction of small modular reactors in Romania together with the United States, and projects such as green hydrogen production and wind energy,” president Iohannis said, according to Agerpres.
Photo: www.presidency.ro
