Djuric, Japanese FM agree on start of talks on investment agreement

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with Japanese FM Yoko Kamikawa in Belgrade on Thursday.

The parties agreed on the start of talks on an agreement on investments that would create an exceptional opportunity to strengthen economic ties with Japan and lend an impetus to development of the Serbian economy.

Djuric informed Kamikawa of Serbia's economic successes, commending a dynamic development of trade and an inflow of Japanese investments, the Serbian MFA said in a statement.

Djuric said he was pleased Kamikawa was on her first visit to Serbia, and that Serbia and Japan had a long-standing tradition of close partnership cooperation, and thanked the minister for Japan's solidarity and donations over the past two and a half decades.

He welcomed the cooperation within a Japanese initiative for the Western Balkans and noted that Serbia was interested in the initiative becoming more visible and being a framework for carrying out specific projects.

Djuric also said Belgrade remained consistently committed to dialogue as the only means of solving outstanding issues related to Kosovo-Metohija, while also making efforts to act as a guarantor of peace and stability in the region in its relations with neighbouring states.