Bulgaria and Japan officially elevated their bilateral relations to the level of “strategic partnership“. This happened today at the residence of the Prime Minister of Japan.
“Every investment from Japan in Bulgaria is valuable because their business model is an example that we can follow to achieve even higher results”, said President Rumen Radev during a business forum in Tokyo, organized by the Bulgarian Embassy in Japan and the Japan External Trade Organization JETRO. The head of state, who is on an official visit to the country, held a meeting at the JETRO headquarters with the organization's chairman Norihiko Ishiguro and its president Susumu Kataoka.
„Bulgaria and Japan share a long-standing traditional friendship and effective partnership, which continues to develop successfully in all areas, as we see today, in bilateral political dialogue and cooperation on the international stage, in economy and science, culture and education. Therefore, I accept with great satisfaction the strategic declaration signed by us a short while ago and I am confident that this is an extremely important step in the history of our relations," he explained.
„Two countries that share common values, principles to the level of strategic partnership. In today's world, where the international community is faced with many challenges, security in the Euro-Atlantic and Pacific regions is becoming increasingly closely linked," said Shigeru Ishiba.
The focus of the meeting and the economic seminar was the prospects for bilateral trade and economic relations between Bulgaria and Japan. The forum was attended by representatives of Bulgarian business in the field of industry, high technologies and scientific research, part of the delegation led by President Rumen Radev in Japan, as well as representatives of nearly 150 Japanese companies that are interested in implementing their projects in our country. The head of state urged them not to hesitate and invest in Bulgaria, highlighting the advantages that our country provides to foreign investors, including a strategic geographical location, educated and prepared young people and a favorable tax system. Rumen Radev pointed out that the presidential institution will continue to assist in the fruitful cooperation between Bulgarian and Japanese businesses.
“We are not here to look for trade opportunities, but partners and friends, to build successful long-term cooperation in various areas of mutual interest”, the president emphasized, adding that the necessary prerequisites for building a fruitful partnership are political will and support, as well as shared values, and these are present in the relations between Bulgaria and Japan. The head of state recalled his meetings with Emperor Naruhito in 2019. and during the current visit to Japan, as well as with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and stressed that these meetings and today's signing of a Declaration on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba are proof of the solid political foundation on which the partnership between Bulgaria and Japan will continue to develop.
The President highlighted the Bulgarian IT sector, which boasts the largest number of specialists in this field per capita in all of Europe. The Head of State also noted that among the advantages of our country is the only institute in the Balkans operating in Bulgaria, specializing in the development of artificial intelligence INSAIT. The institute attracts some of the greatest minds and talents from leading academic, research and business organizations from around the world. In 2023. INSAIT and the National Research Agency of Japan RIKEN signed a memorandum, providing for work on projects, joint research and doctoral programs in the field of artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, computer vision, etc. In 2024, the Japanese company “Toyota“ announced that it would finance INSAIT's research in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence.
Preliminary data for 2024 indicate that the total trade with Japan amounted to 270.4 million US dollars, including exports worth nearly 90 million US dollars. Our country exports to Japan mainly products with high added value such as integrated circuits and electronic micro-assemblies, electrical transformers and converters, medical instruments and apparatus, chemical products and essential oils. Leading Japanese investments in our country are in companies operating in the field of automotive, electronics, energy, medical equipment, etc.
Earlier, the head of state held a meeting with the management of the Japanese technology company “Toshiba“, at which opportunities for cooperation and investment in various energy projects in Bulgaria were discussed, including the renovation of the “Chaira” PAPPPP.