Minister Radulović talked with ambassadors of State of Israel, Swiss Confederation and Japan

Minister of Foreign Affairs Đorđe Radulović met today with ambassadors on non-resident basis, of State of Israel Yahel Vilan, Swiss Confederation Urs Schmid and Japan Takahiko Katsumata.

At the meeting between Minister Radulović with Ambassador Vilan, it was stated that Montenegro and Israel nurture friendly and productive relations, with recognized potential for strengthening cooperation in the following period. 

Head of Montenegrin diplomacy stressed that two countries can learn a lot from each other, predominantly in the area of cyber security, high technologies and defense. Therefore, he expressed the pleasure with planned restoring of air-connection between our countries, starting from March this year, which will undoubtedly contribute to upgrading of our tourism cooperation.

Minister Radulović informed collocutor also with plan for recovering the economy from negative consequences caused by COVID-19 pandemic, with emphasis on immunization of population. In that regard, the possibility of buying specific amount of vaccines from Israel, world leader in vaccination of population against corona virus, was also considered.

 
Minister Radulović expressed the belief that planned visit of Prime Minister Krivokapić to Tel Aviv will send clear message that our country is open for cooperation with the most developed countries of the world, so that will additionally improve bilateral relations.

Ambassador Vilan expressed the gratitude on reception, while agreeing with Minister Radulović that two countries develop productive cooperation in all areas of common interests. As he stated, our countries are culturally close, while uttering that Montenegro has a strong partner in Israel. He specially highlighted the importance of dynamization of contacts between private sector, as key for economic cooperation development.

At the meeting with Swiss Ambassador, Minister Radulović has, while congratulating to Ambassador Schmid on assuming duties, appraised that two countries have fruitful relations, that need to be intensified with political contacts on highest level and cooperation in areas of economy and tourism.

Minister Radulović stated that new Government is committed to foreign policy goals, primarily to acceleration of negotiations with EU and good neighboring cooperation, while simultaneously working on fight against corruption, with approach which implies full transparency. He highlighted that through this method we create most favorable environment for attracting direct foreign investments, as one of priorities within bilateral cooperation between Montenegro and Switzerland, which represents example for our country.

Ambassador Schmid welcomed efforts of Montenegro and, in that regard, uttered that Switzerland, despite the fact that it is neutral country, support foreign policy direction of Montenegro. He agreed with statement that bilateral cooperation should be intensified through increasing of number of Swiss investments in fields of tourism and real estate.

On that line, collocutors stated that, when epidemiological conditions allow, we should work on organizing business forum in order to explore additional opportunities for investments.

Swiss Ambassador emphasized also the importance of science diplomacy, while accentuating the role of the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST), which Montenegro initiated.

During the meeting with Ambassador Katsumata, Minister Radulović stressed friendly relations of two countries, with particular emphasis on concept of Japanese Initiative for Western Balkans. He expressed the belief that it will contribute to more thorough consideration of obstacles and potential challenges with which region is facing in regard to EU negotiation process. He stated that expert support of Japan, as one of the most developed world countries, is of great importance for our socio-economic progress. He expressed gratitude for Japanese donation for procurement of medical equipment in the peak of pandemic, while higlighting that mentioned is another confirmation of close interstate relations, in the challenging times we are witnessing.

“Attracting investments will certainly be in the focus of our engagement, having in mind that one of the main priorities of this Government is intensifying economic activities through diplomatic channels”, Head of Montenegrin diplomacy stated.

As he stressed, Japanese investments that are characterized by high level of credibility are always welcomed and desirable. Minister Radulović also welcomed cooperation within development assistance mediated by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He stated that sharing knowledge and experiences with Japanese experts in areas such as education, sustainable development and economy are very important for Montenegro.

Ambassador Katsumata congratulated to Minister Radulović on position and expressed the belief that bilateral relations will be additionally improved in the period ahead. He stressed that Japan greets all the efforts of Montenegro on its path to EU, while continuing with firm support to our foreign policy goals. He agreed with collocutor on the need for dynamizing contacts in regard to economic cooperation, with accent on private sector as a pillar of economic development.