Romania-Japan strategic partnership

Bucharest and Tokyo want to strengthen bilateral ties, which on Tuesday will be elevated to the level of strategic partnership. This is the purpose of the three-day official visit paid by Romania's president, Klaus Iohannis, to Japan. On Tuesday, Klaus Iohannis will meet with Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, with whom he will sign the Joint Declaration for the creation of the Strategic Partnership between the two states. The head of state had announced earlier this year during his traditional meeting with ambassadors accredited in Romania that relations will Japan will be improved in 2023. 

The signing of this document is the result of a long process of consultations and negotiations, launched five years ago by president Klaus Iohannis and the late Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe. This will be Romania's second strategic partnership with an Asian state after South Korea. The Strategic Partnership will also mark the transition to a superior level of capitalizing on bilateral potential, shared values and principles. The document will advance Romanian-Japanese cooperation at multiple levels, including foreign policy and security cooperation, development assistance, cooperation in the fields of culture, science and technologies, innovation, research and development. Japan is Romania's largest Asian investor. 400 businesses with Japanese capital operate in Romania, accounting for 40,000 jobs. 

Growth potential is significant, including in fields with a potential for innovation, such as the development of small modular reactor technologies, producing and distributing green hydrogen, producing high-power optics, state-of-the-art infrastructure or finalizing the M6 subway line in Bucharest. From this point of view, the Romanian president's visit to Japan will have a strong economic component, designed to strengthen ties in terms of investments and technological innovation cooperation, in addition to political dialogue and consolidating cultural exchanges and person-to-person relations. President Klaus Iohannis previously visited Japan in 2019, when he attended the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito. (VP)