President Gjorge Ivanov and Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kazuyuki Nakane expressed satisfaction from the positive development of bilateral relations at a meeting in Skopje on Thursday.
“President Ivanov stressed that a continual and more intensive political dialogue and communication at all levels is needed for enhancement of cooperation in all areas of insufficiently utilized potential. He voiced satisfaction from the opening of the Embassy of Japan in Macedonia and welcomed the first resident Ambassador to Skopje, Keiko Haneda”, the President’s Office said in a press release.
According to Ivanov, the embassy opening should be followed by increased economic cooperation and larger interest by Japanese companies.
He also saluted the establishment of the Japanese-Macedonian parliamentary friendship group, hoping that strengthened parliamentary cooperation would contribute to increased interest by Japan’s business community.
“Macedonia is grateful for Japan’s continual support through technical assistance and donations provided during last year’s migrant crisis”, added Ivanov.
He expects the signing of a bilateral agreement on technical cooperation very soon, which would open new doors for more intensive cooperation.
Ivanov and Nakane also reviewed cooperation in the education field, expressing interest for increase in the number of scholarships for Macedonian students in Japan.
In addition, interlocutors exchanged opinions on the countries’ strategic priorities, regional and international developments, reads the press release.
