Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Slovak PM Peter Pellegrini (source: Martin Baumann, TASR)
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe visited Slovakia for the first time and met with his Slovak counterpart Peter Pellegrini. The two discussed the possibilities of making Japanese companies’ investments in Slovakia more intensive, as well as agreements to remove the trade barriers between the countries and the situation on the Korean peninsula.
Currently, 63 Japanese companies operate in Slovakia, employing about 13,000 people.
“The quality of Japanese investments in Slovakia is increasing,” said Pellegrini, as quoted by the SITA newswire. “They are not only production plants anymore, research and innovations have also moved here.”
Trade relations
Pellegrini welcomes this as Slovakia desires to be a modern, dynamic country that supports development, research and innovations.
Another motivation for the development of the trade relationship is represented by an agreement on social security that comes into force on July 1.
“We expect to lower the burden for companies,” said Abe, as quoted by SITA. “We have found out recently that the Slovak company ESET is investing in Japan, creating a branch there. That is one of the ways to deepen relationships.”
V4 meets Japan
Apart from his Slovak counterpart, Shinzo Abe also met with the representatives of the remaining Visegrad Group (V4) countries: Czech PM Andrej Babiš, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán. They mainly discussed the cooperation between the EU and Japan, global politics and the potential extension of common trade relationships.
Moreover, they talked about the possibilities of closer cooperation in economic questions and the regulation of digital technologies.
