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President Klaus Iohannis will pay an official visit to Japan and a state visit to the Republic of Singapore, between 6 and 10 March, the Presidential Administration informed.
"Strengthening Romanian's role in the Indo-Pacific space is an important objective of Romania's foreign policy, taking into account the global geopolitical rearrangements, but also the interest to strengthen the political dialogue, the economic and investment relationships, with an emphasis on top areas. Furthermore, Romania, as a member state of the European Union, takes action based and for the capitalization of the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, adopted in 2021, bringing a solid contribution to its implementation," the Presidential Administration mentions.
The president will pay a visit to Japan between 6 and 8 March and will have meetings with Emperor of Japan Naruhito, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as well as with the presidents of the two Chambers of the National Diet of Japan. The official visit to Japan will also include a trip to Kyoto, for meetings at the level of local authorities, told Agerpres.
The main objective and event of this visit is to boost the bilateral relation at the level of a Strategic Partnership, through the signing by Romania's President and Japan's PM of a Joint Declaration of the establishment of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Japan. The signing of the document concludes a wide process of consultations and negotiations, five years after the adoption of the decision to launch this Strategic Partnership within the dialogue between President Klaus Iohannis and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Bucharest. This is the second strategic partnership concluded with an Asian state, after the one with South Korea.
"The establishment of the Strategic Partnership with Japan will, thus, mark the enhancement of the Romanian-Japanese cooperation at the highest level and the transition to a superior stage of capitalizing the bilateral potential, based on values and principles shared by Romania and Japan, on the three key-dimensions: foreign affairs and dialogue on security topics, economic cooperation and in the area of assistance for development, namely cooperation in the areas of culture, science and technology, innovation, research and development," the quoted source showed.
The Presidential Administration mentions that the establishment of the Strategic Partnership takes place in the context of accelerated dynamics in the bilateral dialogue between Romania and Japan in the past years, both at political-diplomatic level, as well as at sectorial level, against the background of the special character of this relationship, built over the course of over one century, and that Romania's objectives in this relation relate to Japan's status as a major and innovative economy in the world and one of the main investors at the global level, as well as in Romania, the Japanese state having been the biggest Asian investor in Romania.
In Romania there are 397 companies with Japanese capital, which currently generate over 40,000 jobs and the growth potential is significant, including in the areas with the highest level of innovation, such as the development of the SMR-type (Small Modular Reactors) technology in Romania, together with the US, the production and distribution of green hydrogen, the production of high-power optics, last-generation infrastructure, such as the Bridge in Braila - a project with cutting-edge engineering, or the completion of the M6 subway line in Bucharest.
"From this perspective, the visit of Romania's president will have a powerful economic dimension and the strengthening of investment relations and cooperation in the area of technological innovation, in addition to the political dimension and that of strengthening cultural exchanges and interpersonal relations," the Presidential Administration also stated.
On the occasion of this visit, a memorandum will also be signed between the Finance Ministry, Eximbank Romania and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), as well as a memorandum between Magurele Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) and Japanese company Okamoto Optics and the Institute of Laser Engineering within Osaka University.
"The enhancement of dialogue and cooperation between Romania and Japan, mainly on the strategic dimension of security, was also generated by the invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Romania is interested in an active involvement of Japan in its immediate vicinity and in the Euro-Atlantic region, taking into account Japan's position as a first-rate global actor," the source mentioned.
The state visit of President Iohannis to Singapore, which takes place between 9 and 10 March, will mark the entry of the bilateral relationship into a new stage of development. It is the first visit at the level of a Romanian president to this country in the last 20 years, as well as in the context in which 55 years of bilateral relations were celebrated in 2022.
The head of state will have official discussions with his counterpart of Singapore Halimah Yacob and with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
"The main objective of this visit is to boost the bilateral relations, in agreement with their potential, especially at economic-investment level. The agenda of the state visit to Singapore also includes the intensification of cooperation in the areas of IT, education, research, food security, connectivity, cyber-security and high technologies, fighting climate change and green transition," the Presidential Administration informs.
In terms of economic and sectorial cooperation between Romania and Singapore, starting from the positive dynamics of the trade exchanges in the past years, including from the fact that Romania is the third large supplier in the European Union of IT services in Singapore, Romania's interest is aimed at strengthening and enhancing this collaboration, by initiating new bilateral projects, the quoted source mentions.
On this occasion, Romania's interest to attract Singaporean investments will be promoted, including in terms of the priority interconnection projects within the Three Seas Initiative, in the context in which President Iohannis will host this year, in Bucharest, the Summit of this platform, alongside the Business Format and one of the goals pursued is to increase the contribution to the Investment Fund of the Initiative.
The head of state will also underscore Romania's contribution to the global food security and present the potential which the Constanta Port and the Danube River have for the connection with Central Europe and not only.
