Lajcak: Slovak-Japanese Relations Making Progress Lately
Tokyo, May 18 (TASR) – Slovak-Japanese relations have improved in several areas recently, said Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak (Smer-SD nominee) in talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida during his visit to Tokyo on Wednesday.
“Our good relations can be confirmed by the fact that we’re meeting for the third time in a year,” said Lajcak.
He went on to say that since their last meeting in November, Slovak-Japanese cooperation has been pushed forward on several levels. “We’ve agreed on the so-called ‘working holidays’ programme for young adults, negotiations about a social security agreement are in progress, Japan took part in the GLOBSEC 2016 international security forum in Bratislava for the first time and this autumn several members of the Japanese business association Keidanren will visit Slovakia.”
According to Lajcak, the visit of Keidanren representatives will extend possibilities in terms of economic cooperation between Slovakia and Japan.
At the moment, there are more than 50 Japanese companies in Slovakia, and they provide more than 10,000 jobs. Lajcak stressed Slovakia’s continued interest in Japanese investments.
Lajcak also informed his Japanese hosts about the Slovak priorities during its upcoming Presidency of the EU Council. “Slovakia, as a befriended country to Japan, will support everything that contributes to further development of relations between Japan and the European Union during its presidency,” he said.
