“We consider Japan Lithuania’s main political and economic partner in Asia. We highly value the leadership of this distant neighbor in fostering global peace and democratic values. Our two countries are distant, but they share painful past. We have gone through and dealt with the consequences of nuclear disasters. Our experience is a lesson to the whole world how important proper assessment of nuclear threats is. The world must learn from the tragedies of Fukushima and Chernobyl, we must improve the means to ensure nuclear safety and play an active role in the international arena, representing the right to a safe neighborhood not only for our region but also for the EU”, said the President.
The President offered condolences to Japan over the losses caused by typhoon Hagibis and thanked Prime Minister Abe for the leadership in seeking closer cooperation between Japan and Lithuania and active support for synchronization of Lithuanian power grids with continental Europe.
Relations between Japan and the EU in the face of sustainable market challenges were also addressed. New EU-Japan agreement aimed at strengthening interconnection partnership opens new opportunities for joint development of energy and transport infrastructure projects.
“We feel an increased interest of Japanese business and financial institutions in the Baltic States, and especially in Lithuania. Political cooperation, both at the parliamentary and governmental level, and the EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement, which came into force this year, served as a great boost. These factors determine a new stage of our relations as well as economic cooperation prospects. We aim to make Lithuania, a rising country in global competitiveness rankings, an attractive investment destination for Japanese companies”, the President said. The President expressed delight over joint efforts of the parties to foster the science, technology and innovation sectors.
The leaders agreed to continue actively developing bilateral projects in laser, finance, life sciences technology and innovation. During the visit to Japan, the First Lady visited Keio University School of Medicine, a hospital and the Japan Medical Research and Development Agency to promote closer cooperation in these areas. These institutions develop shared medical research and diagnostics projects with Lithuania.
The Japanese Prime Minister congratulated the President on winning the elections and welcomed him to Japan. He also expressed delight over Lithuanian-Japanese friendship and active economic cooperation based on common values. The Prime Minister said he was looking forward to a great performance of Lithuanian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics and wished the President a successful visit to Gifu.
