Visiting Serb hopes western Balkan economic parley boosts investments

Japan will host a two-day ministerial meeting in April in Tokyo to promote stability and boost the economy of the western Balkans, according to Zlatan Milosevic, visiting director of the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency.

Zlatan Milosevic

"The focus will be to bring this area closer together to the people of Japan and Japanese businesses," Milosevic, 35, told The Japan Times in an interview this week.

He said it is also aimed at involving the European Union and United States in the western Balkan region, which encompasses Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Albania and Serbia-Montenegro.

The international meeting, which begins April 5, will be attended by ministers of the western Balkan nations and about 30 other countries, including the U.S. and EU states, a Foreign Ministry official in Tokyo said.

On the first day, foreign ministers will focus on the region's political agenda. On the second day, economic ministers will look at the regional economy and local environment for foreign investment, Milosevic said.

During a meeting earlier this week with senior Foreign Ministry officials, the investment agency chief asked Japan to help him increase investment opportunities for Japanese businesses.

"We are looking forward to sending in people to (seminars organized by the Japan External Trade Organization) to have a better understanding and training in trade and export relations in Japan," Milosevic said.

Although he stressed that Belgrade has done its utmost to set up a legal framework for foreign investment, he vowed to continue efforts to create a "transparent environment for potential investors."

In the latter half of his visit, Milosevic will meet with officials of Japanese companies with offices in Serbia-Montenegro in a bid to increase their investment in his country.

Serbia-Montenegro, part of the former Yugoslavia, is struggling to recover from the economic devastation and bloodshed of the 1990s reign of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

While Serbia-Montenegro is a single state, Serbia and Montenegro have different economic and financial policies as well as economy-related ministries.

Zlatan Milosevic will leave for home on Sunday from Osaka after an eight-day visit to Japan.