Deputy Foreign Minister Maria Anguelieva received a Japanese delegation led by the Parliamentary Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Yasushi Hosaka
26 April 2024 News
On 26 April, Deputy Minister Maria Anguelieva received a Japanese delegation led by the Parliamentary Deputy Foreign Minister Mr Yasushi Hosaka.
The visit is taking place in the context of the triple anniversary of Bulgarian-Japanese relations this year — 115 years since the first official contacts, 85 years since the establishment and 65 years since the restoration of diplomatic relations.
Deputy Minister Anguelieva pointed out that the traditional friendly ties between the two countries, the stable cooperation and exchange in important areas such as political dialogue, economy, investment, culture, education, science and technology are excellent preconditions for the further development of bilateral relations and their elevation to the level of strategic partnership. The Bulgarian side sees great potential for deepening interaction in trade and investment, tourism and youth exchanges, as well as in high technology and innovation, including artificial intelligence and semiconductors. In this regard, satisfaction was shared with the development of cooperation between the Institute of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology at Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ (INSAIT) and the Japanese Research and Development Agency (RIKEN) and Toyota Company.
Deputy Minister Anguelieva welcomed the successful cooperation with Japan in the field of official development assistance to the Western Balkan countries and the seminar on ‘Improving understanding of disaster risk management’ held in Sofia in February. She shared our willingness to continue working together in this area and our desire to expand its scope beyond the current areas of disaster management and promotion of small and medium enterprises.
The two sides exchanged views on topical issues on the international agenda. The similarity of the positions of Bulgaria and Japan on Russia's military aggression in Ukraine, the situations in the Middle East and Asia was noted. The Japanese diplomat praised Bulgaria's continued support for Ukraine and discussed the possibility of cooperation between the two countries in the process of Ukraine's post-war reconstruction.
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