CorD Special Edition: Japan - Partners 2018

JANUARY 2018

JAPAN

Partners

No. 6 ISSN 2560-4465

H.E. JUNICHI MARUYAMA, AMBASSADOR OF JAPAN TO SERBIA: CHANGING THE IMAGE OF SERBIA ● KOBAYASHI HIDEYA, RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE, JICA BALKAN OFFICE: SMEs - ESSENTIAL FOR THE SERBIAN ECONOMY ● RADOŠ GAZDIĆ, ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF SERBIA (RAS): UPSWING RECORDED IN SERBIAN-JAPANESE COOPERATION ● GORAN PEKEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE JAPANESE BUSINESS ALLIANCE IN SERBIA: OUR COOPERATION SHOULD BE EVEN STRONGER ● DANIJELA ČABARKAPA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE JAPANESE BUSINESS ALLIANCE IN SERBIA: WE WANT TO BE A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS ● NAOKI TSUKADA, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE MITSUBISHI CORPORATION BELGRADE LIAISON OFFICE: REFORMING THE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM AND GROWTH INITIATIVES ● NEBOJŠA ZELENOVIĆ, MAYOR OF ŠABAC: THE BEST ADMINISTRATION – SELF ADMINISTRATION ● MILENCA SREĆKOVIĆ, DIRECTOR, SET ŠABAC: CHALLENGES HAVE STRENGTHENED US ● RUDOLF CEGLEDI, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF SENTA: JAPANESE INVESTOR AS A SECURE PARTNER ● AZHAIYP KOZHAKHMETOV, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, JT INTERNATIONAL A.D. (JSC) SENTA: FUSION OF BUSINESS AND PHILOSOPHY ● SHAIP KAMBERI, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BUJANOVAC: COOPERATION OF THE EMBASSY OF JAPAN AND BUJANOVAC

Support When It’s Most Needed

CONTENT

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OUR COOPERATION SHOULD BE EVEN STRONGER

GORAN PEKEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE JAPANESE BUSINESS ALLIANCE IN SERBIA

A GOOD VOICE IS HEARD ALL THE WAY TO JAPAN

COMMENT

CHANGING THE IMAGE OF SERBIA

H.E. JUNICHI MARUYAMA, AMBASSADOR OF JAPAN TO SERBIA

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JAPANESE INVESTOR AS A SECURE PARTNER

RUDOLF CEGLEDI, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF SENTA

UPSWING RECORDED IN SERBIAN-JAPANESE COOPERATION

RADOŠ GAZDIĆ, ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF SERBIA (RAS)

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CHALLENGES HAVE STRENGTHENED US

MILENCA SREĆKOVIĆ, DIRECTOR, SET ŠABAC

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FUSION OF BUSINESS AND PHILOSOPHY

AZHAIYP KOZHAKHMETOV, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, JT INTERNATIONAL A.D. (JSC) SENTA

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LEADING DONOR TO THE CITIZENS OF SERBIA

CONTEMPORARY ART

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COOPERATION OF THE EMBASSY OF JAPAN AND BUJANOVAC

JAPANESE ART IS BECOMING ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR

DONATIONS FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

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REFORMING THE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM AND GROWTH INITIATIVES

NAOKI TSUKADA, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE MITSUBISHI CORPORATION BELGRADE LIAISON OFFICE

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THE BEST ADMINISTRATION – SELF ADMINISTRATION

SHAIP KAMBERI, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BUJANOVAC

NEBOJŠA ZELENOVIĆ, MAYOR OF ŠABAC

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BRIDGE BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

DANIJELA ČABARKAPA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE JAPANESE BUSINESS ALLIANCE IN SERBIA

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EDITOR Ana Novčić a.novcic@aim.rs

EDITORIAL MANAGER Neda Lukić n.lukic@aim.rs

GENERAL MANAGER Ivan Novčić i.novcic@aim.rs

PHOTOS Zoran Petrović

PROJECT MANAGERS Biljana Dević b.devic@aim.rs Nataša Trifunović n.trifunovic@aim.rs Nevena Đurković n.djurkovic@aim.rs Vesna Vukajlović v.vukajlovic@aim.rs

FINANCIAL MANAGER Dragana Skrobonja d.skrobonja@aim.rs

PRINTING Rotografika d.o.o.

Segedinski put 72, Subotica, Serbia

COPY EDITOR Mark Pullen mrpeditorial@mail.com

OFFICE MANAGER Svetlana Petrović s.petrovic@aim.rs

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Maja Vidaković m.vidakovic@aim.rs

BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

DESIGNER Jasmina Laković j.lakovic@aim.rs

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CONNECTING MILLIONS TO THE FUTURE

XXXII OLYMPIC SUMMER GAMES, TOKYO 2020

KOBAYASHI HIDEYA, RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE, JICA BALKAN OFFICE

JAPAN HERITAGE

(UN) FAMILIARITY WITH JAPANESE ANIMATION IN SERBIA

JAPANESE POP CULTURE

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SMES - ESSENTIAL FOR THE SERBIAN ECONOMY

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INSPIRING FUTURE FROM THE PAST

Published by: alliance international media Makenzijeva 67, 11111 Belgrade 17, PAK 126909, Serbia Phone: +(381 11) 2450 508 Fascimile: +(381 11) 2450 122 E-mail: office@aim.rs www.aim.rs

No 6 ISSN: 2560-4465 December 2017 All rights reserved alliance international media 2018 THIS PUBLICATION IS FREE OF CHARGE

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COMMENT

A Good Voice Is Heard All The Way To Japan

Japanese investors have recognised the efforts of the Serbian government to improve the country’s macroeconomic position and business environment. The willingness of companies, including those gathered within the Japanese Business Alliance, to continue dialogue on the improvement of conditions for doing business creates space for the arrival of new investors

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One positive signal is the decision of Japain the fields trade, ICT, construction, energy, lthough there is still only a small chemicals, automotive and other industries. number of Japanese companies in nese investors in Serbia to form the Japanese A special place in economic relations beSerbia, data shows that ever more of Business Alliance (JBA) in Serbia and thus forthem are considering some form of tween the two countries is taken by long-term malise their work. Among the reasons for this cooperation with our country. This can also be cooperation between RAS and JICA on the kind of organisation is the identified opportunity concluded from the available figures on growth programme “Establishing and promoting mento establish a dialogue with the Serbian govof the foreign trade balance, although – as toring services for SMEEs in the countries of ernment, which has shown its commitment to expected – it shows a significant imbalance the Western Balkans”, which enabled small and improving the business climate and its dialogue at the technological level of the exwith the economy. This working method primarily encourages investors already change. Serbia mostly exports frozen operating in Serbia, but also indirectly fruit, primarily raspberries, to Japan, impacts on increasing the country’s while the most prominent items on attractiveness to potential investors, the import side are products with because examples of good practise say high added value. Nevertheless, with more than public declarations. the arrival of Yazaki in Šabac, PanaJapanese investors particularly sonic Lighting Devices in Svilajnac and value the introduction of order into Kansai in Gornji Milanovac, alongside the field of the grey economy, which the long-standing presence of Japan is increasingly becoming a systemic Tobacco International, Japanese invescommitment of the government, and tors are increasingly contributing to not a positive one-off move. Contribstrengthening Serbia’s exports.

This was also helped by the suputing to this in particular is the impleport of Japanese institutions that mentation of the Law on Inspections, enabled Serbian producers to exhibit at important fairs in Japan.

The successes achieved by the government during its three-year Good relations between Japan arrangement with the IMF and in advancing on the ease of doing and Serbia on the economic front business index oblige it to be more disciplined in the coming period and have multiple positive effects: The justify the trust placed in it by citizens and the business community Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) has excellent cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) the implementation of which is expected to medium-sized Serbian companies to improve and the Japan Trade and Investment Developachieve a lot in the period ahead, especially their businesses with the help of mentoring, and given that such an approach contributed to its success has led to the transfer of Serbian ment Organisation (JETRO), which – in the case bettering budget gains, despite only a slight expertise in the field of mentoring to Bosniaof the second organisation – has been raised increase in economic activity.

Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia, with to a new level in recent years. Specifically, The government is expected to continue the support of Japanese experts. cooperation with JETRO started in 2002, but its dedicated work in the coming period, both Thanks to this programme and other acfor various reasons it was only in 2017 that a on maintaining macroeconomic stability and on delegation of this important Japanese institutivities, the Japanese management method further improving the investment and business known as the Kaizen philosophy has become tion and interested companies came to Serbia climate, either with expert assistance from widely known and accepted by many Serbian for the first time in a decade to launch talks on the IMF or by relying on its own strengths.  companies. the possibility of joint cooperation, primarily

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INTERVIEW

Changing The Image Of Serbia Many Japanese people still think Serbia isn’t perfectly safe, due to the wars that the entire Western Balkan region went through in the 1990s. In that sense, the challenge for the Serbian side is to disseminate the correct information on Serbia to Japanese people for the purposes of erasing such a stereotyped image of Serbia. Please be assured that the Embassy of Japan in Serbia is always on your side – Junichi Maruyama

H.E. JUNICHI MARUYAMA

AMBASSADOR OF JAPAN TO SERBIA

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.E. Ambassador Junichi Maruyama is convinced that economic cooperation between Japan and Serbia has great potential, highlighting Serbia’s special qualities in terms of a highly educated workforce with competitive labour costs. Serving as a recommendation to future investors could also be the good experiences of Japanese companies that have already arrived on the Serbian market – from Japan Tobacco International (JTI), which was the first Japanese investment in the country, via the famous Panasonic to the latest cooperation in the city of Šabac, where company Yazaki has opened a production plant.

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The Japanese ambassador also confirms that his country remains a donor, as it has been recognised in Serbia since 1999, to secure stable society and sustainable development. Japanese donations to Serbia are today focused primarily on the development of the private sector and environmental protection, as well as healthcare and education, stresses Ambassador Maruyama.

• The end of 2017 has been marked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s five-nation visit to Asia, where Japan was an important port of call. What were the key messages of this meeting?

INVESTMENTS

INFORMATION

COOPERATION

Serbia has advantages in terms of attracting Japanese investments compared to the neighbouring countries in the region, due to its highly educated workforce with competitive labour costs

The challenge for the Serbian side is to disseminate the correct information on Serbia to Japanese people for the purposes of erasing the stereotyped image of Serbia

Japan is supporting grassroots human needs and improvement of the basic infrastructure in 4 sectors: healthcare, education, environment protection and social care

- Prime Minister Abe and President Trump had fruitful discussions on various challenges being faced by the international community. Above all, the most important topic was the issue of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). Both leaders took sufficient time to analyse the current DPRK situation and agreed on the way in which the two countries should move forward. Moreover, the two leaders also discussed Japan–U.S. bilateral economic relations. Both sides agreed to continue and deepen our dialogue, to revitalise trade and investments, and also to strengthen our cooperation in the fields of energy, infrastructure and law enforcement.

• You will be serving as Ambassador to both Serbia and Montenegro, in a region that is regularly mentioned as a potential conflict flashpoint. How do you see the Western Balkans?

- I am aware of such a view of the Western Balkans that you mentioned. But my view of the Western Balkans is different. I would rather pay attention to the geopolitical importance of the region, which is uniquely located between Europe and the Middle East.

Due to the geopolitical importance of the region, I am also confident that the EU integration of the Western Balkans contributes greatly to stability – not only of Europe, but also of the entire international society.

Based on those ideas, Japan is actively engaged in this region and provides various forms of assistance. The January 2017 opening of new embassies in Albania and Macedonia demonstrates our commitment to this region.

• Despite good political relations, economic cooperation remains at a modest level. Your Embassy’s website also contains a message in which you state that you are convinced there is still plenty of room to further develop our relations in the domain of the economy and the exchange of human resources. Which areas do you consider as being the most attractive?

- First, I would like to stress that our bilateral economic exchange has huge potential. I would also like to add that Serbia has advan-

I appreciate the Serbian Government’s efforts to

• How would you assess bilateral relations between improve the investment and business environment, Japan and Serbia at present? including effective macroeconomic results, such - Our two countries traditionally enjoy cordial bias budget consolidation, which is praised by the lateral relations. We have seen some new developinternational community ments recently, such as the visit by Mr Nakane, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, the contract signing for the first yen-loan project, worth €200 million, to install flue gas tages in terms of attracting Japanese investments compared to desulphurisation equipment for the Thermal Power Plant Nikola the neighbouring countries in the region, due to its highly educated Tesla, the grand opening of Yazaki SRBIJA production lines in workforce with competitive labour costs. Having said that, I have Šabac, representing the first greenfield investment by a Japanese to admit that investments from Japan to date have remained at a company, and the contract signing between the City of Belgrade modest level, but I can see some promising new investments, like and the ITOCHU-SUEZ consortium on waste management using in the aforementioned case of Yazaki. the PPP scheme. I am also glad to see an increase in the number The Government of Japan is also keen to support such private of Serbian people practising Japanese martial arts and studying sector efforts in various ways, including dispatching the Japan the Japanese language. However, coming back to your question, External Trade Organisation (JETRO) mission in June 2017. On the there is still room for development, and my goal as Ambassador other hand, as a friend of Serbia, I would like the Serbian people of Japan is to further strengthen our existing relations. to understand that efforts exerted by the Serbian side are also BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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indispensable. Unfortunately, a lot of Japanese people are mistaken about Serbia’s current situation. Many Japanese people still think Serbia isn’t perfectly safe, due to the wars that the entire Western Balkan region went through in the 1990s. In that sense, the challenge for the Serbian side is to disseminate the correct information on Serbia to Japanese people for the purposes of erasing such a stereotyped image of Serbia. Please be assured that the Embassy of Japan in Serbia is always on your side and that we are more than happy to work with you, the Serbian people.

quality labour with reasonable costs. Of course, it is in the hands of businesspeople who carry out deep and thorough analysis of new markets to make the final decision on their investment.

I appreciate the Serbian Government’s efforts to improve the investment and business environment, including effective macroeconomic results, such as budget consolidation, which is appraised by the international community, including the most important international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

I am confident that further efforts will be exerted to bring new investments, such as improving the efficiency of the judicial system and extending the fight against the grey economy. I want to stress the point that present and potential investors seek stable and predictable economies, especially in terms of a reliable tax system.

• How would you assess 2017 for the Japanese business community in Serbia?

- I think 2017 was a very successful year for the emerging Japanese business community in Serbia.

First of all, the Yazaki Corporation – a globally renowned Japanese company in the car parts industry – launched mass production at its first factory in Serbia, in Šabac, in June, and this is considered the biggest greenfield investment in Serbia. The company currently employs 500 workers, though it is planning to employ a total of 1,700 workers by the end of 2019. At the grand opening ceremony of the factory in September, President Vučić showed strong support to potential Japanese investments, which encourages us very much.

There are now five Japanese companies that have This investment has sent a positive signal to attract factories in Serbia, and these companies employ potential Japanese investors to Serbia.

In September we witnessed the signing of the largnearly 3,000 local people. Their contribution to the est Public-Private Partnership agreement in Serbia, Serbian economy is obvious when viewed in terms of between the City of Belgrade and the ITOCHU-SUEZ JTI’s tax contributions and the amount of exports by consortium for constructing the new waste management Yazaki and Panasonic system in Vinča. September also saw the consortium represented by Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and ITOCHU conclude an agreement with the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS) for the installing of a flue gas desulphurisation unit • Company Japan Tobacco International was the first direct inat the Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla. vestment linked to Japan to arrive in Serbia after the year 2000.

ITOCHU has been very active in Serbia this year: it purchased Can Serbia interest investors from Japan today, and in which arabout half the shares of the Master Fruits frozen fruit factory eas do you see such opportunities? via its subsidiary.

- Japan Tobacco International, JTI, celebrated its 10th anniversary We have had two brownfield investments by Japanese compaof doing business in Serbia last year, with then Prime Minister Vučić in attendance. I am glad to hear that JTI is broadly accepted here in nies this year: Kansai Paints acquired Slovenian company Helios Serbia, and that their business has been improving. It is great news at the global level, adding its factory based in Gornji Milanovac that JTI also contributes significantly to the country’s budget, as to its portfolio of factories worldwide. Furthermore, Japanese the fourth biggest tax payer in Serbia. company Hi Lex, producer of car window regulators, acquired I believe Serbia has a lot of potential to attract even more a 100 per cent of the shares of Italian company Lames Group, Japanese investors in the future. I have heard of some Japanese including its factory in Sremska Mitrovica. companies considering investing in Serbia, and also companies As previously mentioned, in June this year JETRO organised a interested in Serbia’s geographically-favourable location and its three-day visit to Serbia for about 20 Japanese companies, in order

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to provide them with an in-field overview of Serbia’s investment potentials. The Japanese IT company that participated in this event actually started doing business in Serbia in November. I sincerely hope that this visit could bring more new projects in the future.

Panasonic is the second Japanese investor in Serbia, following JTI. And like JTI, Panasonic is already recognised as an example of a good investment in Serbia – not only from the business perspective and contributions to the development of the domestic economy, but also from the perspective of co-existence with local communities.

There are now five Japanese companies that have factories in Serbia, and these companies employ nearly 3,000 local people. Their contribution to the Serbian economy is obvious when viewed in terms of JTI’s tax contributions and the amount of exports

by Yazaki and Panasonic.

expanding this cooperation, and we will offer our vast experience to the stakeholders of projects.

• There is great interest in Serbia for the scholarships that are granted for young people to study in Japan. Are you satisfied with the quality of applications and how do you see the future of scholarship students?

- Every year, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) encourages foreign students

• Japan is recognised in Serbia as a major donor, which is not surprising given that since 1999 assistance worth more than €500 million has been forthcoming. Statistics show that Japan directs most of its donations towards health and education. Can Serbia find an interest in the Japanese model that implies close cooperation between science and the economy, financed not only by the state but also by the private sector?

- Since 1999 Japan has been providing economic and technical assistance to Serbia in order to secure a stable society and ensure sustainable development, and also to promote Serbia’s efforts in its accession to the EU by using Japan’s advanced technology and experience.

The main areas of assistance are based on three pillars: development of the private sector, environmental protecWe can hear about efforts of the Serbian Government tion, healthcare and education. The total value of Japanese to introduce dual education and a model of cooperation assistance to Serbia to date exceeds €500 million. that would offer students and scientists a chance to Certainly, cooperation between science and the cooperate with private companies and create mutual economy is very important, and not only for Japan – added value… Japan will seek a model to support your given that scientific institutions continuously create additional value for the business sector. This consecountry’s efforts in expanding this cooperation quently improves the quality of lives of the citizens in your country, and that is where we can see a fine line wishing to study at Japanese universities – in courses such as the of mutual interests. This is definitely a model that all countries Japanese language, teacher training, undergraduate or graduate should follow, but it largely depends on economic strengths and level studies etc. – to apply for MEXT scholarships. With this the tradition of such cooperation in each individual country. We programme, the Government of Japan aims to foster human understand that Serbia’s economic development only recently resources and for these people to become bridges of friendship started recovering, but it still remains at the level of 50 per cent between the grant recipient’s country and Japan, and for them to of the EU average. Despite this, we can hear about efforts of the contribute to the development of not only the respective countries, Serbian Government to introduce dual education and a model of but the world as a whole. When it comes to Serbia, we have around cooperation that would offer students and scientists a chance to 50 highly qualified applicants every year, and the selection is very cooperate with private companies and create mutual added value. hard. However, we always try to choose candidates who will make Companies also need to individually recognise their interests in an effort to promote relations between Serbia and Japan upon their cooperating with scientific institutions and the academic comreturn home by maintaining close ties with the universities they munity, which, as I have already noted, would create a fine line of attended in Japan, and by cooperating on all relevant projects and mutual interests for the benefit of your country’s citizens. events conducted by our Embassy. ■ Japan will seek a model to support your country’s efforts in BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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CORPORATE NAOKI TSUKADA, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE MITSUBISHI CORPORATION BELGRADE LIAISON OFFICE

Reforming The Management Platform And Growth Initiatives

Recognising that businesses have lifecycles influenced by environmental and other factors, Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) will re-profile its portfolio by proactively demonstrating the company’s strengths

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itsubishi Corporation (MC) has a long history of conducting business in Belgrade, dating back as far as 1965. Today, from its Belgrade Liaison Office, MC covers seven countries in the region. MC’s traditional core focus in the Balkans has been on trade in petrochemical products, commodity goods such as tyres and automobiles, as well as higher value products such as pharmaceuticals and food ingredients.

MC is also keeping a close eye on Serbia’s EU accession process, as it views membership as an opportunity for new areas of cooperation.

We spoke with Mr Naoki Tsukada, General Manager of MC’s Belgrade Liaison Office, about the Corporation’s values and goals, both in the region and globally.

• What are the major goals of MC’s Belgrade Liaison Office?

- The Belgrade Liaison Office follows the same goals that were set out in the latest update to our current strategic direction, Growth Beyond Midterm Corporate Strategy 2018, in which MC further articulates its steps to break through to the next stage of growth for the company. The Strategy takes into account various factors that are expected to potentially have an impact on MC’s operations. Among them are the possibility of a world economic slowdown, volatility on commodity markets, geopolitical risks, the longterm stagnation of resource prices and changes brought about by technological innovations like artificial intelligence and the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution.

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• How will those foreseen changes affect your business focus?

- As I mentioned, MC recently introduced a new framework with the aim of increasing MC’s corporate value in the medium- to long-term, which takes into account the rapidly changing external

that have the potential to become the next core businesses. In order to achieve this vision, MC must effectively develop management professionals who have both foresight and exceptional executive skills. Furthermore, we will dynamically allocate management resources such as personnel and funds to develop sizeable core businesses for the future.

• What does it mean for your shareholders?

- MC’s commitments to our shareholders and other stakeholders have not changed since the release of Midterm Corporate Strategy 2018. Firstly, we remain committed to strengthening the management capacity of our MC Group companies worldwide, which will allow us to achieve a new level of profit.

Secondly, we will aim to develop new

We remain committed to simultaneously generating three kinds of value through our business: economic value, environmental value and societal value environment. MC will continue to work to optimise its portfolio based on market risk, using the new business categorisations of the “market-related sector” and the “business-related sector”, which have replaced the previous categorisations of “resources” and “non-resources”. In so doing, we will be able to closely monitor how our core businesses are performing and identify internal prospects

businesses by continuing to forge a network that extends beyond business group boundaries and our corporate structure. Our third commitment is the goal of creating sustainable earnings growth while strengthening the balance of capital allocation. And, fourth, we will allocate management resources in such a way as to establish core revenue streams for the future. ■

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INTERVIEW

Upswing Recorded In Serbian-Japanese Cooperation As of recently, Serbia has been able to boast that, thanks to its active foreign investment policy, it has also become an attractive destination for Japanese companies. Also testifying to this is the visit of a JETRO delegation to Serbia after a gap of almost a decade. The occasion of this visit saw the trade sectors and the industries of ICT, construction, energy, chemicals, automotive and food production highlighted as potentially interesting areas for investment

RADOŠ GAZDIĆ,

ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY OF SERBIA (RAS)

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ere we speak with Radoš Gazdić, acting director of the Development Agency of Serbia (RAS), about this agency’s activities and cooperation with Japan in the fields of investment, foreign trade and expert support.

•How satisfied are you with the level of foreign direct investment in Serbia this year?

- The Serbian economy is recording positive growth dynamics, which are influenced to a great extent by record inflows of foreign direct investments. Thanks to large structural reforms, in the Government we have managed to complete the most attractive package intended for investors in the region of Central and Southeast Europe, and to position ourselves in the world as a stable and reliable investment destination.

The coordinated work of all relevant state institutions contributed to us achieving great results this year in terms of attracting investment.

In the first ten months of 2017, RAS surpassed last year’s record year for a decade in the implementation of investment contracts, with 24 contracts worth a total of €157 million, which will create 8,000 new jobs.

By year’s end we expect to realise contracts worth €200 million, which would create another 10,000 new jobs and represent a new record for

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Serbia in attracting investments and creating new jobs.

Serbia is today a country where world renowned companies operate, like FCA, Bosch, Michelin, Siemens, Panasonic, NCR, CooperTires, Grundfos, Zumtobel, Magna, Continental, Calzedonia, Stada, Falke, Swarovski, Ball Packaging, Sitel, Microsoft, Gorenje, Schneider Electric, Geox, Tarkett, Johnson Electric, Meggle, Leoni and many others.

Such results give us satisfaction and motivate us to work even more, but also responsibility towards investors in terms of continuously improving the business environment.

The benefits of the arrival of foreign direct investments have a major impact on the economic stability of the country, while their presence also has broader significance. Apart from the money that foreign companies bring to Serbia, it is also very important that there is a transfer of knowhow, a raising of competitiveness, the training of domestic workers, standardisation, as well as a raising of the awareness of citizens regarding the business philosophy at the global level and the attitude towards work.

We can be extremely satisfied that our successes are recognised and rewarded by global organisations like the World Bank, which recently recognised Serbia as the best country in Southeast Europe according to the criterion of implemented reforms, which provided the basis for it to

be more attractive to foreign investors. The Foreign Investors Council (FIC) estimated in its latest edition of the White Book for 2017 that the Serbian economy has recorded continuous progress in the past three years, and that the business climate in Serbia today is far better than it was 10 years ago. In its report for 2017, IBM Global Location Trends positioned Serbia as the world leader in terms of the number of jobs created in 2016 per capita. Moreover, Serbia is ranked 43rd on the World Bank’s latest Doing Business Index, which is an improvement of four places compared to last year.

Moreover, Serbia also offers benefits for doing business in free zones, of which there are a total of 14 nationwide, where more than 200 multinational companies operate and more than 20,000 people work. Exports of goods from free zones are growing year on year and currently account for 20 per cent of Serbia’s total exports.

Another positive factor is low operational costs and highly competitive tax rates. Another strong driver of business performance is the country’s highly qualified workforce, coupled with the possibility

By year’s end we expect to realise contracts worth •What do you consider as the most important factors €200 million, which would create another 10,000 new that make Serbia an attractive destination for investors?

- The ordering of the regulatory framework through the jobs and represent a new record for Serbia in attracting adoption of new laws and serious economic and structural investments and creating new jobs reforms being conducted by the Government of Serbia provided the key framework for establishing a stable busiof state and other incentives for investors, developed infrastructure ness environment and improving conditions for doing business. Serbia is and an efficient administration. a stable country in macroeconomic and political terms, with predictable conditions for doing business, which provides foreign investors with security.

Serbia can today offer foreign investors duty-free exports to • How much do foreign investments contribute to the growth of GDP, markets of 1.1 billion consumers, encompassing the European Union, exports and the transfer of modern technologies? the Russian Federation, the U.S., Kazakhstan, Turkey, Belarus and the - This is best illustrated by the statistic of the National Bank of Serbia countries of CEFTA and EFTA. estimating that FDI in Serbia in 2017 will total 2.1 billion euros, which

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(Japan International Cooperation Agency) and JETRO (Japan ExternalTrade Organisation), which started in 2002 with the training of employees, only to be extended in 2005 to encompass the implementation of joint projects.

Alongside numerous investment conferences and seminars, which have been held in both Japan and Serbia, as well as in other European countries where Japanese investors have a significant presence, several business missions and visits of Japanese companies to Serbia have been organised, the most recent of which was in June 2017. That visit was organised jointly by RAS, the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia and JETRO, and marked the first visit of a JETRO mission to Serbia in almost ten years. The potential investment sectors discussed at that time were trade, ICT, construction, energy, chemicals, automotive, the food industry and others.

With the support of Japanese institutions, Serbia also had the opportunity to exhibit at Foodex, Japan’s food industry expo, after which Serbian companies started exporting frozen products to Japan. On several occasions, domestic companies have received the opportunity to familiarise themselves and gain insight into the Kaizen method of doing business and organising work, which is synonymous with Japanese productivity and efficiency.

In the domain of project implementation, a special place is held by long-term cooperation with JICA on the project “Establishing and promoting mentoring services for MSEEs in the countries of the Western Balkans”. This project relates to closing the cycle of standardised mentoring services in Serbia, as well as continuing the transfer of Serbian expertise in the field of mentoring in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia, with the support of Japanese experts. This project is the result of many years of successful cooperation and is JICA’s only project with a regional character, with RAS as a partner in transferring the Serbian model of standardised mentoring services to the countries The focus of RAS’s work in the coming period will be on of the region. Furthermore, this is a rare example of JICA connecting local and foreign companies, and motivating supporting a fourth consecutive project in one country. accounts for around 5.5% of GDP, which will exceed the current account deficit for the third consecutive year.

That continuity of positive results brings financial stability to the country, and thus economic and macroeconomic stability, which is an important factor for major world companies when it comes to deciding to operate in our country. That is a positive spiral with which Serbia has managed to keep pace and which brings good results.

FDI has a major impact on the country’s rate of economic growth rate and plays a significant role in achieving stable, long-term economic growth that is based on both investment growth and the introduction of contemporary, modern and environmentally sound technologies, as well as increased competitiveness.

Large companies operating in Serbia are mainly export-orientated, and this has certainly influenced the overall level of goods exports, which this year, according to the data of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, increased by 14 per cent compared to last year.

Through its programmes, RAS will strive to further influence an increase in the country’s exports. One of the key segments of RAS’s work is supporting SMEs, while our focus in the coming period will be on connecting local and foreign companies,

and empowering SMEs to enter large supply chains

motivating and empowering SMEs to enter large supply chains that would enable them to sell their goods on the world’s markets.

• How difficult it is to attract quality investors, such as Japanese companies – of which there were previously very few on the domestic market? We also recently recorded the first visit of a JETRO mission to Serbia after a gap of almost ten years. What is the long-term significance of this renewed interest in Serbia?

- Cooperation between Serbia and Japan has recorded an upswing in recent years. Serbia mainly exports frozen fruit to Japan, primarily raspberries, while the most common commodities on the import side are motor vehicles.

The largest Japanese investments in Serbia are those of Japan Tobacco International in Senta, Yazaki in Šabac, Panasonic Lighting Devices in Svilajnac and Kansai in Gornji Milanovac.

RAS has continued its cooperation with Japanese institutions JICA

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• How much have foreign investments contributed to more balanced regional development in Serbia and job creation in parts of the country suffering from high unemployment?

- The umbrella policy of the Government of Serbia is to have a uniform division of investments in all Serbian cities, in order for all regions in the country to develop equally and for workers to be employed. The current unemployment rate in Serbia is 10.6%, which is the lowest rate so far, and plans suggest that it will be even lower by the end of the year.

In the last three years of working with investors, we managed to create about 5,000 new jobs in municipalities that are not very visible on the investor map, such as Koceljeva, Prijepolje, Vladičin Han, Surdulica, Prokuplje, Žitorađa, Vlasotince and Knjaževac...

In order to strengthen domestic businesspeople in underdeveloped areas, the Development Agency of Serbia, in cooperation with the Economy Ministry, implemented a programme of support for new employment this year, in which the greatest support was given to devastated areas, in order to reduce unemployment and enable more balanced regional development. ■

CORPORATE NEBOJŠA ZELENOVIĆ, MAYOR OF ŠABAC

The Best Administration – Self Administration Šabac is the city where construction and usage permits are issued the fastest in Serbia, and the local self-government where location permits are issued the fastest

Š

abac is the first and only place in Serbia to allow citizens to decide through direct declarations how money they paid for property tax will be spent. The Mayor of Šabac advocates for a similar principle when it comes to attracting foreign investors, which should function on free market principles.

in our city. We are here to ease procedures in order for Šabac to be a place to invest in and start a business or expand operations.

• Šabac is a city where several foreign companies operate, including Yazaki. Is Yazaki already an “advert” for other potential Japanese investors?

- It’s no coincidence that the Japanese happened to choose Šabac. The reason for their decision is that this is the best place for investment in Serbia, a city that – in harsh competition with a large number of cities in the country and the region – succeeding in winning and enticing this company, thus creating an opportunity for citizens to find employment. The opening of the Yazaki factory is the largest greenfield investment in

city, as the best investment location in the country, will attract other large companies.

• The City of Šabac is unique in that it has enabled citizens to decide how property tax will be spent. What does that look like in practise?

- We are the first and only place in Serbia to allow citizens to use direct declarations, held on 3rd December, to decided how money they’ve paid for property tax will be spent. And not only did they decide, but they also had the right to propose projects. The people’s will proved victorious in these elections - and proposals such as to build a church and a dome hall, procure scales - and not political parties or political leaders. All selected projects will become an integral part of the

• Mr Zelenović, you are of the opinion that cities and municipalities in Serbia should compete in attracting investors on free market principles. What market advantages does Šabac have over other cities when it comes to benefits?

- We issue location condition permits in 11 days, building permits in five days and usage permits in two days. According to NALED’s confirmations, Šabac is the best place to invest in the country. We are trying Alongside Yazaki, large Italian and Austrian companies also operate to approach EU standards and it is in Šabac. I expect that, thanks to the arrival of this Japanese giant thanks to these standards that we in Šabac, the good reputation of our city, as the best investment received recognition from NALED. location in the country, will attract other large companies More than 50 companies operate in the Northwestern Working Zone the country. I am pleased that representain Šabac, and the same amount operate in 2018 budget. This is a pioneering endeavor in tives of this large company recognised in the the east, and they are all members of the Serbia and we believe it has awakened new City of Šabac a reliable partner and a local business family of our city. We behave in the energy in citizens, who have been asked for self-government suitable for investment. same way towards entrepreneurs in our city the first time in the history of Serbia how their Alongside Yazaki, large Italian and Austrian who employ 50 workers as we do towards money should be spent. Moreover, collection companies also operate in Šabac. I expect those who employ 1,700. Our administration is of property taxes has tripled. We believe that that, thanks to the arrival of this Japanese always available to all potential investors, as the best administration is self-administration, giant in Šabac, the good reputation of our well as businesspeople who already operate in which citizens decide freely. ■ BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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CORPORATE KOBAYASHI HIDEYA, RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE, JICA BALKAN OFFICE

SMEs - Essential For The Serbian Economy The Development Agency of Serbia (RAS) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) recently announced the continuation of their joint project to advise and support the operations of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia

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ICA has had a long history of supporting SMEs in the Balkans. JICA’s support to Serbian SMEs started in 2006, with the Project for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Supporting-Agency Reinforcement.

Through this project, JICA collaborated with the ADSMEE and regional agencies in introducing the standardisation of service for SMEs. • Why is the mentoring of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia so important?

- There are a few reasons why JICA supports SMEs and mentoring services. Firstly, Serbia has a good base as a country that once had a developed automobile and aeroplane manufacturing industry and an excellent workforce in this field.

Therefore, JICA believes there is huge motivation and potential in supporting the economic and social development process of Serbia on its path to EU accession, through assistance in private sector development.

Secondly, it is clear that strengthening SMEs is an essential tool for the development of the Serbian economy. Given that 99% of Serbian companies are SMEs, we need strong SMEs for the development of the Serbian economy. Good training and skilful trainers are necessary for strengthening SMEs. To date we have provided

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50 hours of free mentoring service to each SME within the project, and through this mentoring service each SME receives good training. Needless to say, strengthening the SME sector also increases the employment rate.

Finally, after World War II Japan became one of the world’s few highly industrialised countries.

This development was mainly supported by the SME sector. After WWII, the Government of Japan implemented several strategies for promoting SMEs during the economic development process and has the experience and knowhow of the same mentoring system that the Serbian government is now focusing on. We are sure that this system can be applied to the strengthening of the Serbian SME sector.

• Since the beginning of JICA’s activities on this area in Serbia, how many companies have so far participated in the mentoring programme?

And how many more should still receive these services by 2020?

- Since 2013, some 786 beneficiaries have been provided with the mentoring service, or approximately 150 beneficiaries annually. The project team is currently trying to increase the number of beneficiaries. In order to achieve this, they need the support of the Government of Serbia and to improve the visibility of mentoring service among SMEs. • What is a common issue and challenge for Serbian SMEs; and how can mentoring services help them?

- Based on the observation of JICA consultants, it seems that most SMEs lack some practical marketing skills. They had compiled business plans and conducted some marketing activities, but lacked a clear image of their target group and didn’t know how to reach potential clients.

This further led to them losing their focus and this problem caused waste in terms of time and money. JICA consultants therefore intentionally included practical marketing knowledge into mentoring services, so that beneficiaries can improve their business together with the support of mentors.

It seems that SMEs mostly face difficulties in the first 10 years of doing business. Through the mentoring service, beneficiaries receive 50 hours of mentoring, which means that they have a lot of time to meet, analyse and discuss their problems with mentors. The uniqueness of this service is that mentors provide technical advice to beneficiaries, but they also remain with them, sharing difficulties and encouraging them to seek solutions to emerging problems. It is reported that 90 per cent of the beneficiaries are satisfied with the mentoring service and the immense support they received from mentors.

• Statistics show that a low percentage of small businesses in Serbia endure for more than 10 years, while Japanese companies, in contrast, are known for their longevity. Is there anything in which we are similar; could you compare Serbian and Japanese SMEs? - I believe there are no major differences in terms

of the individual skills of Serbian and Japanese businesspeople, and the reason for that is the good education system in Serbia. However, two main differences are noticeable with regard to the business activities of Serbian and Japanese SMEs. Firstly, Japanese SMEs have a long-term plan for employee training and educate their staff continuously. In some sense, Japanese SMEs believe that their responsibility is to increase the overall number of skilled businesspeople through their business activities. On the other hand, Serbian SMEs do not have a strategy for the long-term training of their employees.

Secondly, Japanese SMEs nurture employees who think and act like business owners. A phrase used often in Japanese SMEs is “You should think as if you were the owner”. Expectations are the same, regardless of an employee’s position or title.

As such, SMEs train employees to think and act with the mind of a business owner. Kaizen is now famous as a unique feature of Japanese business and it is one of the most important aspects of Japanese management philosophy. All employees are constantly trying to improve their workplace, products and services, as well as their own skills.

in Serbia. I also attended this launch ceremony, where the list of the attendees included Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and officials from ministries related to the economic sector. I must say that I felt the enthusiasm of the Government of Serbia to improve the investment climate. The investment climate is said to have improved drastically in the last couple of years, but that there is still room for improvement in terms of Restitution, Corporate Income Tax and Corporate Law. With regard to the promotion of investments from Japan, unfortunately, Japanese investors do not know about these improvements. The problem is that access to information related

- JICA has been supporting tourism in Serbia by deploying a Japanese Tourism Advisor to TOS, and that Advisor has supported TOS in drafting a regional tourism strategy in collaboration with neighbouring countries. The popularity of the region as the “next destination” for Japanese tourists is definitely increasing, as it satisfies their needs in terms of safety, reasonable prices and interesting culture and food. This became clear after tours for media and tour operators were organised in 2016 and 2017 and resulted in positive feedback. This region has not been recognised as a tourist destination for many years, but we hope that our support will increase

• What are the other most important projects that JICA is currently implementing in our country?

- In Serbia, JICA focuses mainly on private sector development and environmental protection.There are some standards related to environment protection that Serbia needs to Since 2013, some 786 beneficiaries have been provided with the adjust to on its path to EU accession. mentoring service, or approximately 150 beneficiaries annually.

The JICA project in Serbia that focuses The project team is currently trying to increase the number of on environmental protection is “The Flue beneficiaries. In order to achieve this, they need the support Gas Desulphurisation Construction of the Government of Serbia and to improve the visibility of Project for the Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla”. Through this project JICA mentoring service among SMEs will finance the necessary construcits popularity and consolidate this region as the to the investment climate in Serbia is really tion of environmental protection facility at TPP next destination for Japanese tourists. limited in Japan. Therefore JICA, in cooperation Nikola Tesla A, through an Official Development with JETRO, will work on finding a solution to this Assistance (ODA) loan worth up to 28.252 billion • What will be the focus of JICA’s activities for problem by providing support to the Government JPY (approximately €213 million), in accordance Serbia in 2018? of Serbia and RAS. with the loan agreement that JICA signed with - We will continue to provide support to Serbia EPS (Electric Power Industry of Serbia). in terms of economic and social development, • The Tourist Organisation of Serbia (TOS), with focusing on private sector development and the support of JICA, has appeared at the Tour• How would you evaluate the business envienvironmental protection. We are considering ronment in Serbia at the end of 2017? What ism Fair in Tokyo for several years now. Apart formulating a proposal for supporting the secshould we work on more in order to make the from that, TOS – along with colleagues from the business environment better? region and in partnership with JICA – also ortor of rural area development from next year - The Foreign Investors Council recently preonwards. Moreover, we are also planning to ganises visits to the Balkans for the most imexpand our activities with the newly-introduced sented the White Book – Recommendations for portant Japanese tour operators. How attracJICA Volunteer programme. ■ the Improvement of the Business Environment tive is our region to Japanese tourists?

BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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INTERVIEW

Our Cooperation Should Be Even Stronger Open discourse between the state and industry is something that has contributed, and will continue to contribute, to improving the business environment in Serbia. Members of the JBAS are renowned companies that are very willing to cooperate with the Serbian Government and contribute to evens stronger relations between Japan and Serbia

GORAN PEKEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE JAPANESE BUSINESS ALLIANCE IN SERBIA

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he Serbian government has been exerting a lot of effort to build a stable and predictable business environment, says Goran Pekez, president of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JBAS). This association is still relatively small, but is also very active and decided to transform from a club into a more formal organisation, with the aim of assisting in the advancement of economic relations between Serbia and Japan.

Pekez says that the Serbian government’s efforts are

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visible and the business climate shows improvement.

“This is important for investors who are already here, but also for potential investors considering Serbia as a possible destination for operations,” says Pekez.

• How much of a challenge was it to form the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia – given that the number of Japanese companies operating in Serbia is still relatively small?

- The number is relatively small, but our goal is strong, and we are very much dedicated to achiev- Our top priority is to establish close ties with the public ing it. So, I cannot say that it was challenging as institutions that we recognise as being crucial to much as it was rewarding, since I’m sure this was establishing a favourable business environment the right move. This was a logical step forward towards our aim since formation of the Japanese ering Serbia as a possible destination for operations.

Business Club. The initiative to establish the Japanese A favourable business environment enables comBusiness Alliance came from the need of Japanese companies – not just foreign, but also domestic ones – to panies to make their informal grouping within the Japmaintain their current level of investment, growth and anese Business Club more formal and thus make cooperation between Japan and Serbia even stronger and more substantial.

• The Kaizen philosophy is something we know only a little about thanks to support from Japanese experts. To what extent is it implemented in Japanese companies and do you operate according to its principles?

- The Kaizen business philosophy is accepted very well in Serbia – we know that numerous companies with production facilities apply its key principles in their everyday activities. Some of them call it the 5s system (sort, set in order, shine, standardise, sustain), others call it lean management, but the essence is the same. This simple philosophy, invented 50 years ago in Japan, helps companies achieve great results in terms of financial effects and efficiency. Continuous improvements are the basis of the Kaizen philosophy, and they can be achieved with minimal financial investments and optimal use of available resources. We believe that the wider use of Kaizen may contribute to speeding up the development of the Serbian economy, which is why the JBAS will encourage the sharing of best practises in its further activities.

• Is the climate created by Serbian Government favourable for business development?

- We welcome the efforts exerted by the Government towards creating a stable and predictable business environment. Its efforts are visible, and the current estimate of the climate is positive. This is important for investors that are already here, but also for potential investors considBUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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• To what extent has Serbia managed to reduce some previously identified problems, such as the grey economy?

- A lot has been done by the Government, which declared 2017 as the year of the fight against the shad• How could the JBAS, with its expertise, help the ow economy. Moreover, this issue has also been highGovernment improve the business climate further? lighted as the top state priority, which is not a surprise given that the grey economy is estimated to “swallow” up to 10 billion euros, depriving the budget to the tune of three billion euros. In other words, each citizen loses one monthly salary instalment every year.

So far, the new Law on Inspections has been passed, along with amendments to the laws on tax procedure and tax administration. The interministerial commission against the grey economy, led by Finance Minister Dušan Vujović, has been formed and results are evident – increased budget revenues of 73 million euros in the first quarter of this year alone. Results for the first half of 2017 should be announced by the end of the year, and there I expect a significant increase in tax revenues. There are several reasons for this. Specifically, the collection of VAT and excise duties has increased, although economic output has not improved significantly. The tax base has also been enlarged – given that in 2016, thanks to enforcement of the Law on Inspections, more than 3,500 unregistered entities were identified and registered.

This is evidently a systematic approach in fighting the grey economy as part of the national programme. What should be done in the period ahead is to diligently implement all measures envisaged by this programme. In addition, It is evident that the Government has a systematic full implementation of the Law on Inspections approach to fighting the grey economy. What should be is required, i.e. synchronisation of the sectordone in the period ahead is to diligently implement all specific laws with umbrella laws. The aforemenmeasures envisaged by the national programme tioned inter-ministerial commission has a key role to play in this process. employment, which contributes to achieving a stable macroeconomic outlook and GDP growth.

- Open discourse between the state and industry is something that has contributed, and will continue to contribute, to improving the business environment in Serbia. JBAS members are renowned companies from the automotive, pharmaceutical, tobacco, chemical, electronic, machine, medical, trade, creative and IT industries, with decades of experience operating worldwide. We are all very willing to cooperate with the Serbian Government and are satisfied with the fact that the government recognises that. Through joint conferences, multilateral and bilateral meetings, we are forming an atmosphere of genuine partnership and mutual understanding.

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• What are your top priorities when it comes to building up the JBAS’s internal capacities?

- Expanding the list of members is something that awaits us in the near future. Our top priority, however, is to strive to establish close ties with the public institutions that we recognise as being crucial to establishing a favourable business environment. We will continue to inspire joint and close work with the Government and its institutions, in order to provide the private sector with the best possible business conditions. This will benefit the State through higher employment, improved budget revenues and a higher living standard for citizens. ■

CORPORATE MILENCA SREĆKOVIĆ, DIRECTOR, SET ŠABAC

Challenges Have Strengthened Us “By working with Japanese company Yazaki we have learned a lot, but have also proven our ability to fit into their strict and high standards,” says Milenca Srećković, director of SET Šabac, speaking to CorD

“M

have done is great encouragement for our companies that were “sunk” by the global y biggest reward in life is further engagement, while the experience crisis, SET not only survived but also became that I managed to create acquired is invaluable. more successful. What were the key points a family business and that for you, or the decisive decisions that led to my children and husband • SET is also recognised as a company that you awaiting your company’s 15th birthday work with me. That, but also the many young gives opportunities to young and creative people who work with me, encourages me.” as a better, bigger and more successful people, as evidenced by statistics on the After receiving this year’s “Most Eurocompany? level of education of employees. What is pean Woman’s Firm” Award of the Business - The most important thing for you to surthe limit of professional creative freedom Women’s Association, this was how Milenca vive in any business is to maintain quality, when working on projects? explained her life and business priorities be ready to learn every day and to invest - Young people are ready to learn, advance to the media. in your employees. Apart from that, for quickly and accept modern technologies.

The company she heads celebrates a decsuccess in every job, including this one, it is When it comes to construction, it is necesade and a half of its existence next year, and necessary to create a good team, based on sary to meet the demands of the investor, to among other things she is also proud of her professionalism and dedication. It wasn’t comply with the standards of the profession cooperation with Japanese company Yazaki easy to survive all these years – we have and fit into the budget, which is not at all easy. on the design and construction of a business a series of difficult decisions behind us, complex for the production of electronic components for the automotive The most important thing for you to survive in any business is industry. “We launched cooperation to maintain quality, be ready to learn every day and to invest in last year,” recalls Mrs Srećković.

- As you’ve already mentioned, your employees we cooperated on the realisation of the business complex, from design That’s precisely how they show their creativity to finalisation of the facility. Yazaki is a seribut we obviously approached them in the and how much they knew and are capable of ous company that has clearly set standards, right way because we are here today. We doing. The opportunities SET gives to young so it wasn’t difficult to work with them. We are aware that there are numerous profesand creative people are very important for learned a lot by working on such a great sional challenges ahead of us, but we hope their professional growth and advancement. project and in this way we also proved to the worst has passed and that in the future ourselves what we are capable of doing in we will continue to “create together” with • SET is next year celebrating the 15th ansuch a short period of time. The satisfacour employees, partners and clients, but tion of our project partners with what we also with our fellow citizens. ■ niversary of its existence. Unlike many BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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INTERVIEW

Bridge Between The Public And Private Sectors

The Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia wants to contribute to promoting Japanese business culture, to support the arrival of new Japanese companies in Serbia and enable the inclusion of the Japanese business community in the creation and improvement of conditions for doing business in Serbia

DANIJELA ČABARKAPA,

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE JAPANESE BUSINESS ALLIANCE IN SERBIA

W

e spoke with Danijela Čabarkapa, executive director of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia, about the plans of this newly founded business association.

• When was the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia founded and what are this association’s goals?

- Taking into consideration the growing presence of the Japanese business community in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the further intensification of interest among the Japanese business community

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when it comes to cooperation with Serbia, the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JPAS) was established in March this year, as the successor to the pre-existing informal association of the Japanese business community in Serbia under the auspices of the Japanese Business Club. The JBAS was founded at the initiative of Japanese companies already operating in Serbia, and with the strong support of the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Serbia, with the aim of improving cooperation between Japan and the Republic of Serbia, primarily through the development of economic relations between the two countries. Our shared desire is to achieve more intense promotion of the Japanese business culture, to support the arrival of new Japanese companies in Serbia and to involve the Japanese business community in the creation and improvement of the conditions for doing business in Serbia.

• In which areas of industry are representatives of Japanese business active in Serbia today?

- Five Japanese investors currently operate in Serbia, with the

recent investment of company Yazaki – following the investments of JTI and Panasonic – representing Japan’s first greenfield investment in Serbia, while investments at the global level, by the until recently Slovenian Helios and Italian Lames group, became part of Japan’s Kansai, i.e. Hi-Lex, and with them the aforementioned factories of these companies in Serbia. In addition to the noted companies, another eighteen Japanese companies operate in Serbia, as well as over forty Serbian companies that work closely with Japanese firms.

• Which factors have contributed to the growing interest among new investors from Japan compared to the previous period?

- What Japanese investors value in particular is the availability of a high-quality workforce, free trade agreements and the preferential trade system that Serbia has with other countries, competitive business costs and state support through an incentive system and operational support when operating in Serbia. The

Representatives of the Japanese business community in

• How do the businesspeople gathered within the Serbia operate in the fields of the automotive industry, Japanese Business Alliance assess Serbia’s investpharmaceuticals, tobacco, chemicals, the mechanical, ment and business climate? electronic, creative and IT industries, medicine and trade - The current implementation of the first greenfield investment sends a positive message about condibusiness climate in Serbia can be assessed as positive, thanks tions for doing business in Serbia, as well as sending a positive to stability and the increased predictability of operations, which signal to other Japanese companies that are considering Serbia are a result of intensive and open dialogue between investors and as a business destination. However, there is room for further imrepresentatives of official institutions of the Republic of Serbia. provement, and here we are primarily referring to increasing the efficiency of the public administration and reducing bureaucracy • How many members does the association have today and and ensuring the predictability of operational costs, as well as what are your next steps and planned activities? the clear and transparent implementation of laws.

TEIKOM d.o.o. I Banatska 83a I 11080 Belgrade I Serbia tel: +381(11) 381 4400 I fax: +381(11) 381 4444 info@teikom.com I www.teikom.com

TEIKOM has for many years been the Distributor of prominent Japanese companies BRIDGESTONE and KOMATSU for the territories of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. During such a long period, we have acquired a wide range of buyers. From important metal and coal mines, to civil works and road construction companies, and also small utility companies. We ensure high quality and timely support to all our partners in respect of supply of products and parts, as well as their maintenance and servicing. By taking part in their production process, we enable them to improve their productivity and efficiency, with cost reduction, and therefore to increase their profit.

At the same time, by supplying the products of these two companies, global giants in their respective branches, we bring the advanced Japanese technology to the Balkan market, as well as Japanese philosophy in the approach to production, quality as well as environmental protection BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN | 27

- The association currently comprises fifteen companies, including Japan Tobacco International, TAKEDA, Nipro, Panasonic, Astellas, the Mitsubishi Corporation, Mazda, Mitsubishi Electric, TERUMO, Yokogawa, Law Office Stanković & Partners, Mikro Control AIM Grand Motors and E-Smart Systems, and we expect to be officially joined by additional members by the end of this year. Considering that, after the fulfilment of technical preconditions for functioning, conditions have also

the aim of informing the Japanese business community about conditions for doing business in Serbia, among other things, through support in the organising of visits of delegations of Japanese companies interested in expanding business operations, promotions and informing about the potential for doing business in Serbia.

• What are the key business values that Japanese investors have brought to Serbia?

- It is known that in Japan individual interests are subordinated to the interest of the nation as a whole, and that they particularly value patience, trust and loyalty, which is why the stability and predictability of conditions for doing business are highly value, and contribute to the improvement of the business culture and value system in the country in which operations are conducted. Likewise, it is important to note the transfer of technologies and knowhow in the fields of managing and organising operations. Alongside the commercial aspect of the operations of Japanese companies, they also attach great importance to social responsibility and are very active when it comes to supporting the local community, which also contributes to improving the living conditions of citizens.

• To the best of your knowledge, how familiar are Serbian businesspeople with the Kaizen philosophy?

- The Embassy of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) worked intensively in the previous period on familiarising Serbian companies with the Kaizen philosophy, with the support of domestic institutions, and the plan is to continue with this in the future. Support in Alongside the commercial aspect of the operations introduction to the kaizen method was also provided of Japanese companies, they also attach great by company JTI, which successfully implements importance to social responsibility and are very active Kaizen principles at its factory in Senta on a daily when it comes to supporting the local community basis. In the previous period, Serbian companies had the opportunity to work on improving their operations through direct work with Japanese consultants, and this project will also continue in the future, been met for the association to implement specific activities, through JICA‘s cooperation with the Development Agency of we are planning to stage an event in the coming period to mark Serbia, which will also be supported by the Japanese Business the official launch of the JBAS’s work, in cooperation with Alliance in Serbia. the Embassy of Japan in Serbia. The association’s activities will focus on strengthening communication with the relevant • Where do you see the greatest contribution of the Japanese public institutions that are important for the operations of the Business Alliance in Serbia to promoting future Japanese-Serassociation’s members, through the intensification of dialogue, bian economic relations? in order to improve the business climate in Serbia, which will - The Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia will be a bridge also be contributed to through the Alliance’s activities directed between the public and private sectors, and on the one hand, towards providing support in intensifying the presence of the through dialogue with the state, it will send clear recommendaJapanese business community in Serbia. tions for areas that need to be improved in order to increase the attractiveness of Serbia as a business destination for • In which way will the association provide support when it Japanese companies, while on the other hand it will promote comes to informing Japanese investors about Serbia? the potential for doing business in Serbia among Japanese - The JBAS will collaborate strongly with the Embassy of business circles. ■ Japan and JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation), with

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CORPORATE RUDOLF CEGLEDI, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF SENTA

Japanese Investor As A Secure Partner The Municipality of Senta owes its status as a preferred destination for investors to its excellent geostrategic position.

Thanks to the proximity of two borders, the river and its loading dock, but also the advantages provided to companies through the provision of an equipped industrial zone, this municipality at the heart of the Tisa area ranks among the most developed in Serbia

A

mong the most important projects that have marked Senta’s economic scene is the arrival of Japan Tobacco International and their purchase of the local Tobacco Industry enterprise. That was the first direct investment of a Japanese company in our country. Although multimillion-euro investments and employment for several hundred citizens are the most important elements, the local self-government is also proud of its partnership relations with this company.

• When JTI bought Tobacco Industry Senta more than ten years ago, it marked the first direct Japanese investment in Serbia. How would you rate this investment today?

- Ten years ago, and still today, we rate this investment and out cooperation with JTI very positively. This is a very responsible company, with major investments in production and employing a large number of Senta locals.

- Through these many years, the local selfgovernment has always been able to rely on JTI as a secure partner. Through joint efforts we have realised several important investments, such as the reconstruction of the Culture Centre, the construction of a fountain in the city

Public Utility Housing Company Senta with a refuse collection vehicle, worth 59,900 euros.

• What can Senta offer potential investors; what are the main assets of your municipality? Alongside agriculture and the food processing sector, which are certainly in focus, which other areas could be interesting for investors?

- The Municipality of Senta is located in an excellent geostrategic position, comprises the centre of the Tisa basin region and in close proximity to two national borders.

The River Tisa represents a great natural resource and the backbone of the development of economy and tourism. On the Tisa is an equipped international dock for loading and unloading various types of goods.

Moreover, the Municipality of Senta

Joint efforts have led to the reconstruction of the Culture Centre, the construction of a fountain, the purchase of a vehicle for the Centre for Social Work, the reconstruction of the building of the Disabled Workers’ Association etc

• Alongside economic cooperation, a responsible attitude towards the community is also unavoidable. And this Japanese investor traditionally organises various humanitarian campaigns, donations etc. At the same time, Japan as a nation also helps Senta through various philanthropic activities. Which projects would you single out as being the most significant?

centre, the purchase of a vehicle for the needs of the Centre for Social Work, the reconstruction of the building of the Disabled Workers’ Association and others. JTI is a traditional donor of the Days of the Town of Senta event and an array of cultural events throughout the year. The Government of Japan provided the

boasts an industrial zone that is equipped in terms of infrastructure and is ideal for the development of greenfield investments. Alongside the Tisa, the Municipality of Senta also has a thermal water well which – thanks to its qualitative characteristics – is suitable for the development of spa and wellness tourism. ■ BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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CORPORATE AZHAIYP KOZHAKHMETOV, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, JT INTERNATIONAL A.D. (JSC) SENTA

Fusion Of Business And Philosophy “We owe our success, among other things, to the applying of the Kaizen business philosophy in our work, which is a specific way of thinking that encourages the creativity of employees, contributing to continuous progress,” explains Azhaiyp Kozhakhmetov, Operations Director at JT International a.d. Senta

J

- Since 2006, when JTI purchased Senta T International a.d. Senta, despite of workers employed there during the 11 being a foreign investment, has “do- years of its operation, creating room for Tobacco Industry, a total of US$170 milassociated companies and contributing lion has been invested in modernising the mesticated” in Serbia in the best way during its more than ten years of op- significantly to the annual Serbian budget factory’s facilities, launching cigarette erating here. JTI is a member of the Japan through tax contributions, excise duty and production and exports to Montenegro, other payments. It is also worth noting Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia Tobacco Group of Companies, which is one and Albania, as well as exporting tobacco of the leading international producers of that the company’s market share has also tobacco, present on the global market with increased during this time from seven to to the EU. By the end of 2017, we plan to complete the current investment cycle brands like Winston, Camel, Mevius and 21 per cent.

More than $2.7 million was invested in of US$2.7 million, while in 2018 another El-de. Alongside these, thanks to brands I-Lights and Logic, it is also a global player the Senta factory in 2016 alone, in order US$2 million will be injected in the furon the e-cigarette market.

This Geneva-based company JTI is the largest tobacco producer in Serbia, employing a total of with operations in more than 120 countries selected Serbia for its 1,000 workers in Belgrade and at the factory in Senta – as well as first direct investment way back tobacco growers and their family members and seasonal workers in 2006. And not just that! Despite seeming impossible at first glance this Japanese company has introduced and to further expand tobacco processing and ther expansion of tobacco and cigarette production. Senta Tobacco Industry was successfully implemented a new business cigarette production capacities, though philosophy for Serbia – Kaizen, which this sum represents only a fraction of total initially a factory that only dealt with proencourages creativity at work aimed at investments during the past decade. That’s cessing green tobacco, but we now have a also why one of our first questions for the portfolio of different configurations for achieving the best possible results.

In the meantime, this investment has director of operations in Senta, Azhaiyp cigarette products belonging to some of become one of the country’s most im- Kozhakhmetov, related to achievements the world-famous brands we produce, such as Winston, Monte Carlo, Camel and LD. portant factories, tripling the number this year and plans for next year.

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• How much of the cigarettes and tobacco produced do you export?

- We are currently exporting more than a third of everything we produce. The value of exports over the last 10 years amounts to more than US$200 million.

Just in 2017 we will export cigarettes and tobacco worth nearly US$20 million. Our long-term plans are to increase volumes on our export markets.

is a “continuous improvement” mindset that you can apply anywhere, on any job.

That is the reason why we traditionally organise an ‘Open Door’ day at our factory for colleagues from other companies,

life of community members at the local and national levels, we launch and participate in numerous projects. In recognition of our donations of equipment and funding, as well as the voluntary work of our employees,

• JTI cooperates with local farmers, along with their families and seasonal workers.

What are the terms of that cooperation?

- As the only international company that buys domestic tobacco, JTI is Serbia’s largest tobacco producer, employing a total of 1,000 people in Belgrade and the factory in Senta – tobacco growers, members of their families and seasonal workers. For the second consecutive year, the company has been awarded the Top Employer certificate for providing leading edge staff conditions. As far as cooperation with our producers goes, with the goal of achieving the best results in terms of quality and yield, JTI provides support to farmers at all stages of production – from the provision of seeds and In recognition of our donations of equipment and funding, as payment of the amount required well as the voluntary work of our employees, JTI was awarded for financing production, through the prestigious VIRTUS Award in 2015 for contributions to the the care of tobacco in the field, local community in which it operates training farmers about the proper application of agri-technical measures, to collection and transportation of and we share with them our successes JTI was awarded the prestigious VIRTUS Award in 2015 for contributions to the local achieved using the Kaizen continuous tobacco to the factory. improvement method. Based on our ex- community in which it operates. We invest in • JTI’s factory in Senta is the first oper- perience, I can say that realisation of the preserving culture and tradition, as well as in improving the quality of everyday life. In ation in Serbia to fully apply Kaizen – Kaizen philosophy is a challenging but the Japanese business philosophy that attractive journey that will undoubtedly Senta itself we helped with the reconstruction of the theatre and city fountain, as well enables the achieving of great results. bring you great success. as supporting the establishment of a day Do you think other companies in Serbia would benefit from Kaizen and, if so, how? • As a major company, do you feel respon- care centre for people with work-related disabilities. Every year we traditionally - Kaizen is a way of thinking and organising sible for the local community? How do you give the largest donations to the Soup everything. It emphasises employee crea- support your fellow citizens in Senta? tivity to help define the way procedures - JTI is strategically orientated towards Kitchen in Senta. On the other hand, the majority of tobacco producers with whom and systems can be improved. Overall supporting the society in which it operates we cooperate are located in Srem, so we advantages of the philosophy include and protecting socially vulnerable groups. increased productivity and maintaining With the aim of contributing over the long have initiated or joined several projects to the quality of products and services. It term to the improvement of the quality of support locals there. ■ BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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DONATIONS FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

Leading Donor To The Citizens Of Serbia Total Japanese aid to Serbia since 1999 exceeds the amount of €500 million, which ranks Japan among the largest donors to the citizens of Serbia. Total assistance provided so far by the Government of Japan since 1999, through various projects, exceeds €490 million

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OPOS donations are aimed at supporting social development through projects for the basic needs of the population. The Government of Japan provides financial assistance essential for the implementation of projects that contribute to the county’s economic and social development. Environment, healthcare, education and social protection are the main areas of interest covered by the Government of Japan. Since 1999 some 207 POPOS projects have been implemented in Serbia, with a total value of around €12.4 million.

JAPAN SUPPORT FOR PUC “KOMUNALAC” IN VLASOTINCE

Vlasotince Public Utility Company “Komunalac” received a Japanese government donation of €58,315 for the procurement of refuse collection vehicles as a form of support for the improvement of environmental protection in the local community.

JAPANESE SUPPORT FOR THE ŽABARI HEALTH CENTRE

The Government of Japan secured €63,149 for the Žabari Health Centre for the procurement of an ambulance vehicle, ultrasound, autoclaves and generators as support for the improvement of conditions for healthcare services in this local community.

JAPANESE SUPPORT FOR SEVEN HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN SERBIA

The Government of Japan provided two FUJIFILM endoscopes, one TOSHIBA digital X-ray generator and five HITACHI ultrasound devices, worth a total of 1 million Japanese yen (approximately 1 million Serbian dinars) as a form of support for Serbia’s health protection following the major floods that hit Serbia in 2014. The donated equipment was produced in areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2014 and was distributed to seven health institutions in Serbia: The Dr Dragiša Mišović-Dedinje Clinical Hospital Centre in Belgrade, the Clinical Hospital Centre of Niš, Šabac General Hospital, Smederevo General Hospital, Aranđelovac General Hospital, Ćuprija General Hospital and Kruševac General Hospital.

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JAPANESE SUPPORT FOR THE KULINA HOME FOR ACCOMMODATING ADULTS The Kulina Home for Accommodating Adults received assistance from the Government of Japan totaling €68,983 for the purchase of special vehicles and equipment, as a form of support for the improvement of social protection in this local community.

JAPANESE SUPPORT TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF DIMITROVGRAD For the project to equip the Municipality of Dimitrovgrad with an ambulance vehicle, the Government of Japan provided the Municipality with €50,300, as a form of support for improving healthcare in the local communities of the Republic of Serbia hit by the international refugee and migrant crisis.

JAPANESE SUPPORT FOR THE MEROŠINA HEALTH CENTRE

The Government of Japan secured €61,003 for the Merošin Health Centre for the procurement of an ambulance vehicle and medical equipment, as a form of support for improving healthcare in this local community. Thanks to this project, the Merošin Health Centre is now able to carry out a higher number of precise analyzes, as well as reducing the burden of patients.

JAPANESE SUPPORT TO THE PREŠEVO HEALTH CENTRE

JAPANESE SUPPORT FOR THE VUK KARADŽIĆ PRIMARY SCHOOL IN TUTIN

The Vuk Karadžić Primary School in Tutin received a donation from the Government of Japan for the reconstruction of the roof of the school building, amounting to €66,195, as a form of support for improving education in this local community.

The Government of Japan provided the Preševo Health Centre with €31,000 for the procurement of an ambulance vehicle, as a form of support for improving healthcare in the local communities of the Republic of Serbia hit by the international refugee and migrant crisis.

23RD MARCH 2017

JAPANESE SUPPORT TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF BOSILEGRAD

The Government of Japan provided the Municipality of Bosilegrad with assistance amounting to €103,450 for the procurement of an ambulance vehicle, car lift and container, as a form of support for improving healthcare in the local communities of the Republic of Serbia.

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JAPAN SUPPORT TO THE TRGOVIŠTE HEALTH CENTRE

The Trgovište Health Centre received Japanese assistance amounting to €67,700 for the procurement of an ambulance vehicle and a biochemical analyser, as a form of support for the improvement of healthcare in local communities.

27TH JANUARY 2017

JAPANESE SUPPORT TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF BUJANOVAC

The Government of Japan secured €109,050 for the Municipality of Bujanovac for the procurement of an ambulance vehicle and water tank trucks, as a form of support for improving healthcare and environmental protection in the local communities of the Republic of Serbia hit by the international refugee and migrant crisis.

7TH MARCH 2017

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT DONATION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NOVI SAD’s FACULTY OF TECHNICAL SCIENCES

Under the auspices of the programme “Grant assistance in the domain of culture”, the Government of Japan donated €33,810 to the University of Novi Sad’s Faculty of Technical Sciences for the procurement of complete technical equipment, desks, chairs and other furniture, and for the renovation of the classroom in which the Japanese language has been taught since 1992.

ECONOMIC SECTION ACTIVITIES IN 2017 OVERVIEW

1. JAPANESE COMPANIES PROMOTION/SUPPORT

1.1. ISUZU PROMOTION EVENT (CITY OF PIROT, SOUTHERN SERBIA) – (30TH MAY)

First secretary of the Embassy of Japan, Mr Yoshifumi Kanno, attended the ISUZU Roadshow 2017 on 30th May, in order to support this world-famous Japanese brand and promote the POPOS programme to participants and potential recipients of donations.

First Secretary Kanno also met with the mayor of Pirot and high officials of Free Zone Pirot.

1.2. JETRO MISSION – (7TH TO 9TH JUNE)

22ND FEBRUARY 2017

JAPANESE SUPPORT TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF KURŠUMLIJA

The Government of Japan helped the Municipality of Kuršumlija replace 185 windows, two doors and renovate footpaths with a donation worth €69,840, as a form of support for the advancement of education.

A delegation of representatives of Japanese companies, led by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), visited Serbia from 7th to 9th June, with the goal of acquainting themselves directly with the country’s investment potentials, as well as the development of the political, economic and social environment.

The list of companies represented included:

IIJ Europe Limited, SRA Holding Inc., Software Research Associates Inc. (IT sector), MUFG Bank, The Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Bank Europe, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Raiffeisen Bank Int. – Vienna, Japan Desk (banking sector), Kajima Europe Ltd., Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe, Yokogawa Europe, Sumitomo Electric, ASAHI Group Foods, Toyoda Gosei Czech, Tsuchiya Hungary (manufacturing sector), Harmony Corp., ITOCHU, Marubeni and Mitsubishi Corp. (trade sector).

1.3. MITSUBISHI HITACHI CONTRACT SIGNING WITH EPS FOR TPP NIKOLA TESLA (YEN LOAN PROJECT) – (8TH SEPTEMBER)

MHPS and EPS signed a contract on 8th September 2017 confirming the implementation of the project ‘Construction of the

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desulphurisation system at the Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla”, which is worth close to €200 million. The contract was signed by Yasuo Fujitani, senior executive vice president of MHPS and Milorad Grčić, acting director of EPS. The signing ceremony in the building of the Government of the Republic of Serbia was attended by the State Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Kazuyuki Nakane, Serbian Mining and Energy Minister Aleksandar Antić and Japanese Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Juichi Takahara, as well as members of the Japanese consortium that will implement the project in cooperation with Serbian partners.

1.4. OPENING OF YAZAKI CORP. FACTORY ŠABAC (26TH SEPTEMBER)

Japanese company Yazaki officially opened its first factory in Serbia on 26th September. With attendees for the opening ceremony including Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Yazaki Corporation President Shinji Yazaki, Japanese Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Juichi Takahara, Serbian Economy Minister Goran Knežević and Šabac Mayor Nebojša Zelenović, this Šabac-based company joined the Yazaki family, which runs 200 factories worldwide, employing 290,000 workers.

At the time of the official opening, Yazaki employed 500 workers in this Serbian city, with plans to increase that number to 1,700 by year’s end 2019. This first Japanese greenfield investment and one of the biggest in Serbia is worth €25 mil-

lion. The Government of Serbia distributed €10.1 million in incentives to the company, while the local government in Šabac also allocated €2.4 million as support to the company.

1.5. ITOCHU SIGNING CEREMONY FOR VINČA PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (29TH SEPTEMBER)

The City of Belgrade signed a public-private partnership contract on 29th September with French–Japanese consortium “SUEZ – I-Environments Investment ltd. (ITOCHU)” for a project to remediate the Vinča dump and construct a new waste disposal facility worth €300 million. The signing ceremony was attended by Belgrade Mayor Siniša Mali, SUEZ Deputy Director for International Affairs Marie-Ange Debon, Chief Operations Officer of I-Environments Investment Ltd Hiroshi Sato, as well as Japanese Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Juichi Takahara.

This 25-year PPP project will include the development of a system for the treatment of Belgrade’s municipal waste. The agreement calls for the closure and remediation of one of the largest active landfill sites in Europe and the construction of a waste-to-energy cogeneration facility to produce heat and electricity from non-recyclable waste.

2. JAPANESE BUSINESS ALLIANCE IN SERBIA (JBAS)

The Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JBAS) was founded

Allied Telesis International B. V., Alekse Nenadovića 15/3, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, Tel: +381 11 2416 410, www.alliedtelesis.com BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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in March 2017 as an initiative of Japanese companies active in Serbia, with the strong support of the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade. The aim is to improve collaboration between Japan and the Republic of Serbia, primarily by developing economic relations and advancing Japan’s business presence in the host country. The goal of the alliance is to promote and protect the interests of Japanese companies operating in Serbia, as well as Serbian companies that have business relations with Japanese affiliate companies or which represent their business interests. JBAS cooperates closely with the Embassy of Japan in Serbia, while the shared goal of the embassy and the alliance is to provide member companies with the necessary support for doing business in Serbia.

The current members of JBAS include JTI, TAKEDA, Nipro, Panasonic, Astellas, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mazda, Mitsubishi Electric, TERUMO, Yokogawa, Law Office Stanković & Partners, Mikro Kontrol (Omron), Alliance International Media and Grand Motors (Infinity).

3. BUSINESS LUNCH @ AMBASSADOR’S RESIDENCE (20TH JUNE)

The traditional annual Business Lunch organised at the Japanese Ambassadorial Residence in Belgrade with the purpose of bringing together the members of the Japanese business community in Serbia was held on 20th June, hosted by H.E. Ambassador Takahara. With more than 50 guests in attendance, representatives of Japanese companies, institutions in Serbia and Serbian government bodies, including the Development Agency of Serbia, exchanged views on developments in the country’s business climate in the past year and discussed the further activities of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia.

During Japanese fiscal year 2016 (from April 2016 to the end of March 2017), the Government of Japan provided total assistance of €859,446 to the Republic of Serbia via the Programme of Projects for the Basic Needs of the Population (POPOS). Contracts were signed in December 2016 and during February 2017 on donations from the Government of Japan for 15 projects approved in 2016, in the following areas:

POPOS projects in the field of education

Funds totalling €256,781 were allocated with the aim of improving conditions for education in the Republic of Serbia for 2016. Four donation contracts were signed with the following institutions: 1. TEXTILE-TECHNOLOGIAL & AGRICULTURE SCHOOL “DESPOT ĐURAĐ” in Smederevo - €72,848 For the procurement of equipment for the professional specialisation of pupils 2. PRE-SCHOOL INSTITUTE “POLETARAC” in Žagubica - €54,293 For the procurement of a school bus and kitchen equipment, the reconstruction of kitchens and toilets, and to replace windows and doors 3. AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL “RADOŠ JOVANOVIĆ” in Prokuplje - €56,650 For the procurement of a tractor, plough and balers

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4. PRIMARY SCHOOL “STEPA STEPANOVIĆ” in Čačak - €72,990 For the reconstruction of roofing and damaged ceilings

POPOS projects in the field of health

With the aim of improving health services in the Republic of Serbia, funds totalling €229,504 were allocated for 2016. Four donation contracts were signed with the following institutions: 1. ŽABARI HEALTH CENTRE – €63,149 For the procurement of an ambulance vehicle and medical equipment 2. VLADIČIN HAN HEALTH CENTRE – €55,200 For the procurement of an X-ray generator 3. BLACE HEALTH CENTRE – €72,720 For the procurement of an ambulance vehicle, ultrasound, ECG devices and tonometers 4. THE CITY OF SUBOTICA – €38,435 To replace the health centre’s roof

POPOS projects in the field of environmental protection

With the aim of improving environmental protection in the Republic of Serbia, funds totalling €263,325 were allocated for 2016. Four donation contracts were signed with the following institutions: 1. PC “DIRECORATE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF LUČANI” – €69,360 For the procurement of combined machines 2. PUC “DRINA” in Mali Zvornik – €63,400 For the procurement of waste disposal vehicles and skips 3. PUC “8th AUGUST” in Srpska Crnja – €72,250 For the procurement of waste disposal vehicles 4. PUC “KOMUNALAC” in Vlasotince – €58,315 For the procurement of waste disposal vehicles

POPOS projects in the field of social protection

With the aim of improving social protection in the Republic of Serbia, funds totalling €109,836 were allocated for 2016. Three donation contracts were signed with the following institutions: 1.EDUCATIONAL-CORRECTIONAL HOME in Kruševac – €60,386 For the procurement of equipment for the professional development of wards 2. SOCIETY FOR ASSISTING MENTALLY UNDERDEVELOPED PERSONS in Priboj – €22,620 For the procurement of a special vehicle with a ramp 3. HOME FOR ADULT DISABLED PERSONS in Doljevac – €26,830 For the procurement of a special vehicle with a ramp

Since the year 1999, 207 POPOS projects have been implemented in the Republic of Serbia. Including the projects listed, the total amount of Japanese assistance through projects for the basic needs of the population (POPOS) in Serbia since 1999 has totalled €12.4 million. The total amount of Japanese aid to Serbia during the same period exceeds €500 million. ■

CORPORATE SHAIP KAMBERI, PRESIDENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF BUJANOVAC

Cooperation Of The Embassy Of Japan And Bujanovac “The ambulance vehicle and drinking water tank that the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade donated to the Municipality of Bujanovac are vital to our citizens,” says municipal president Shaip Kamberi

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he municipality of Bujanovac is located in the central part of the Balkans, in the tame Bujanovac high valley, alongside the most frequently utilised road and rail links leading towards Europe. At the centre of communication routes, it sits directly beside roadways and railways belonging to the E-10 international corridor, connecting Belgrade-Skopje-Thessaloniki-Athens.

In this interview for CorD’s special edition covering Japan, Municipal President Shaip Kamberi points out that the proximity of three international airports especially favours investors, for which the municipality has compiled a list of available sites for brownfield and greenfield investments.

According to president Kamberi, despite investors coming and the municipal administration being very efficient, Bujanovac still needs donations and assistance, and that’s why he is also proud of the project that this year saw approval for the Embassy of Japan to purchase a drinking water tank and ambulance vehicle.

- The ambulance vehicle was delivered to the Health Centre in Bujanovac, while the tank was assigned to Public Enterprise Komunalac. We are a relatively small municipality and, in terms of income,

insufficiently wealthy, so such donations are very significant for citizens and we are grateful to the embassy of Japan for metting our needs.

• The water tank truck aims to improve the supply of water to surrounding communities, especially in the rural parts of the municipality. How much has this donation so far impacted on improving life in Bujanovac municipality?

work when it comes to taking care of the needs of these parts of the municipality.

• Bujanovac Health Centre received a modern ambulance vehicle, which significantly improved healthcare services, particularly in remote communities. How much has the work of the Health Centre been eased, especially for patients requiring urgent assistance?

- Although the Bujanovac Health Centre and the people employed there are doing

Donations from the Embassy of Japan to Bujanovac are worth 109,000 euros and are categorised within the Projects for the basic needs of the population, POPOS - Although plumbing systems cover 80 per cent of the territory of the municipality, and water supply issues have largely been resolved through the construction of autochthonous sources, the geographical configuration of Bujanovac municipality is such that there are natural obstacles to having water supply systems throughout the entire territory. It is precisely due to the needs of settlements that are difficult for the water supply system to access, and for their inhabitants the tank we received as a donation from the Japanese embassy is of vital importance. At the same time, it is now easier for the city utility company to

their best to provide timely and high-quality services to citizens, and endeavouring to ensure everyone who needs help gets it, the new medical vehicle is essential. I would say it is of life or death significance to all our citizens. The paramedical services of our health centre are in the field on a daily basis, and this modern vehicle allows them to reach even the most inaccessible corners of the municipality, to arrive on time, and to help with assistance wherever it is needed. I really have a need to once again express our gratitude to the Japanese Embassy and to Japan, which were overwhelming sensitive to the needs of a small municipality. ■ BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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XXXII OLYMPIC SUMMER GAMES, TOKYO 2020

Connecting Millions of Visitors To The Future

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, are planned to be held from 24th July to 9th August 2020 in Tokyo. It will be the second time that Tokyo has hosted the Olympics. The official programme will feature 339 events in 33 sports; alongside five new sports that will include 3-on-3 basketball, freestyle BMX and Madison cycling, and new mixed events in several sports. The Tokyo metropolitan government has earmarked over $3 billion to cover the cost of hosting the Games

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ith flawless preparation and execution, the Tokyo 2020 Games aim to deliver an event at which every athlete can realise their best performance and achieve their personal best. The world’s best technologies will be adopted in developing competition venues and in operating the Games.

All Japanese citizens, including Olympic and Paralympic volunteers, will employ their utmost resourcefulness as hosts to welcome visitors from around the world, with the best Japanese omotenashi, or hospitality.

Accepting and respecting differences in race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, level of ability or other status allows peace to be maintained and society to continue to develop and flourish.

The Tokyo 2020 Games will foster a welcoming environment and raise awareness of unity in diversity among the world’s citizens.

The Tokyo 1964 Games completely transformed Japan, enhanced Japanese people’s awareness of the outside world and helped

bring about the rapid growth of Japan’s economy.

The 2020 Games will enable Japan, now a mature economy, to promote future changes throughout the world, and leave a positive legacy for future generations.

OUTSTREAM VIDEO Tokyo is one of the world’s most futuristic, complex and sophisticated cities. It has the world’s busiest train station (Shinjuku station serves 3.64 million people per day), the second most Fortune 500 companies in the world, the tallest tower in the All Japanese citizens, including Olympic and Paralympic world, and the world’s busiest urban volunteers, will employ their utmost resourcefulness as hosts to transportation system. welcome visitors from around the world, with the best Japanese Emerging tech in Japan is going to change how we experience the omotenashi, or hospitality Olympics in 2020, and could even change world.

This “robot village” will be in Tokyo’s Odaiba neighbourhood, Japan is also one of the most automated nations on the planet. which will also be home to the athletes’ Olympic Village. (It’s already Major robotics industries in the U.S., China, Korea, Germany, France, home to a 19-metre-tall Gundam statue.) But they will be far from and other countries work with—and compete against—robot builders the only robots in the capital for the Games. Here’s the idea: Many in Japan. So, naturally, we’ll see an army of robots swarming Japan of the 920,000 foreigners expected to visit Tokyo per day during the during the event... enough to populate a small village, which is exactly Olympics can call for nearby robots to help with language translawhat the Olympics committee wants to do. tion, directions, or beckon for transportation—transportation that The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that a government itself could be robotic, self-driving cars. From area hotels to shops committee is launching a programme to install robots across the to Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport, helpful, personal, polite city, in “an initiative toward a ‘universal future society’, where robots robots will coexist alongside millions of humans, serving to carry and information technologies that assist humans regardless of their luggage, check them into their accommodation, or drive them age, nationality or disabilities are commonplace.” to sightsee at Tokyo Skytree.

The English skill level in Japan, compared to other advanced nations, is low. And while the number of foreigners learning to speak Japanese has skyrocketed in the last decade, there’re still significant language and cultural barriers that tourists encounter. That’s why Japan is rolling out cutting-edge instant translation technology for 2020.

The country’s government-funded National Institute of Information and Communications Technology offers VoiceTra, a real-time translation app that accommodates 27 languages for text translation, including Urdu and Bhutan’s Dzongkha. Voice translation is a bit harder; the agency says the app understands 90% of spoken content. It so far covers English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, and is expected to accommodate over 10 languages by 2020. The software will be available on computers and phones and at tourist-dense spots like landmarks and shopping centres and, for safety, hospitals.

Meanwhile, in the private sector, Panasonic is making a palm-sized BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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gadget worn around the neck that will translate Japanese into 10 languages for the thousands of visitors set to descend on the metropolis.

This electronics giant also plans to provide visitors with a smartphone app that scans Japanese signs and translates them on the spot. These are services that could be useful in countries around the globe.

Maybe demand will go up once viewers get HD viewing of their favourite sports, like baseball, surfing, or wushu, all contenders for new sports to be added to the Olympic schedule in 2020.

ALGAE AS A FUEL SOURCE Algae has remarkable potential as an alternative energy source. It sucks in carbon dioxide and converts it into energy. It’s preferable to other green energies that are grown on land, like oil made from corn, because it can produce 60 times more oil per acre

SELF-DRIVING TAXIS Japanese gaming giant DeNA is planning to get driverless taxis on Tokyo’s roads by the 2020 Olympic The Tokyo 1964 Games completely transformed Japan, enhanced Games. That’s a significant achieveJapanese people's awareness of the outside world and helped ment when some of the biggest bring about the rapid growth of Japan's economy names in tech—Google, Apple, Uber —plus car manufacturers like BMW, and is relatively easy to grow. The problem is that Algae’s super Toyota and Mercedes are all scrambling to be the first to get fully expensive—making a litre of the stuff costs about $2.50, and functioning autonomous vehicles on the road. that cost needs to be closer to 80 cents to be a viable alternative.

But Tokyo is the biggest, densest city on planet Earth: 13 million But Boeing wants to help Japan fly Olympic tourists to the island humans, 11.913 people per square kilometre. Plus during the Olympics nation on jets fuelled by algae. As part of a consortium of over 40 orit’s estimated that a whopping 920,000 foreigners will roam this ganisations, including the University of Tokyo, the Japanese government, megalopolis on any given day. If Japan gets driverless taxis on Tokyo’s Japan Airlines, and All Nippon Airways, Boeing aims to offer algae flights streets in time for the Olympics, it’s going to be an insane test run. on these major Japanese airlines for the millions of tourists expected to visit Japan in 2020. Which is good, since algae can cut carbon dioxide TV BROADCASTS IN GLORIOUS 8K Japanese state television broadcaster NHK plans to air the Olympic Games in tantalisingly detailed 8K high definition. Just like the colour TV boom of the 1960s, Japanese companies are hoping to make the new, ultra-vivid image quality the de facto viewing on screens in Japan and beyond.

The made-in-Japan resolution, Japan Times reports, offers next-generation screen resolution: 7,680 by 4,320 pixels, or 16 times as many pixels as current HD. NHK has been at the definitive global forefront of 8K development, having started researching it way back in 1995. If anyone is bringing 8K to the world, it’s Japan, and it’ll be going gangbusters at the Olympics.

By 2020, NHK wants those TVs in consumer homes.

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emissions by up to 70 per cent, compared to petroleum fuels.

If Boeing and the others can prove that algae can be cost efficient, effective and useful on a scale as large as the Olympics, we could start seeing a lot more international flights running on green.

News24 and the Japan Times report, wants to shower streams of manmade meteors across the sky, which could make for the most badass opening ceremony ever.

The idea is pretty out there—literally. The team is working with Japanese universities to design a cube-shaped microsatellite that’ll be launched into space and, in the world’s first project of its kind, shoot out tiny, inch-wide spheres made out of a secret material.

Friction in the air will cause them to glow while racing at five miles per second. Space.com reports that there’s no worry for space junk,

HYDROGEN-POWERED BUSES AND BUILDINGS According to the Wall Street Journal, the Tokyo government plans to spend 40 billion yen ($330 million) to improve hydrogen energy use leading up to the Olympics, making Japan a “Hydrogen Society.” When hydrogen gas mixes with oxygen in a fuel cell, it’s able to produce exhaust-free energy, just The plan is to make the entire Olympic Village like water can. hydrogen-powered, complete with at least 100 fuel cell-powered The plan is to make the entire buses, press lounges and athlete dorms Olympic Village hydrogen-powered, complete with at least 100 fuel cellsince the fake stars burn up upon re-entry, like real space projectiles. powered buses, press lounges and athlete dorms. The government also wants 6,000 of cell-powered cars in the road, with 100,000 on EVEN MORE MAGLEV TRAINS streets by 2025. There’s even going to be a giant pipeline constructed Japan brought humankind high-speed rail with its shinkansen underground that’ll directly funnel the hydrogen into the Olympic bullet trains 50 years ago, and now it’s eyeing next-gen rail travel: Village. It’s part of a bigger plan for Japan as a whole to gin up nonmagnetic levitation. While some countries are arguably more nuclear energy sources after the Fukushima disaster. advanced in this area—China’s operated a maglev in Shanghai for 11 years—Japan wants to bring the maglev to Tokyo by 2020.

ARTIFICIAL METEOR LIGHT SHOWS JR Central, the rail company that oversees Japan’s maglev train, A Japanese astronomy start-up called ALE, CNET, Rockethopes to have the train running to Tokyo in time for the 2020 Games, and then to Osaka by 2045. Earlier this year, Japan broke a land speed record for rail with its maglev train, at 601kph. The country’s looking to further develop its maglev system and expand to countries like the U.S., going so far as to bankroll half the cost for linking Boston to DC by maglev.

Considering Tokyo’s status as a tech hub, we could see some of the best engineering and tech to come out of an Olympics yet. If robots can provide great customer service during the Tokyo Olympics—a dense urban maze packed with millions of people in humankind’s biggest party—then they have a chance everywhere. ■ BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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CONTEMPORARY ART

Japanese Art Becoming One Of The World's Most Popular

CHIHO AOSHIMA: The Fountain of the skull

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apanese art has been thriving and today is fast becoming one of the most sought after in the art market, finding strong roots in Western culture. Its edgy character has a unique sensibility to it, varying from daintily intricate and innocent, to the outrageously provocative and highly sexual, borrowing various influences from pop culture, commercialism and eroticism, as well as from Japanese painting, traditional art and its iconography.

Here are ten must-know Japanese contemporary artists CHIHO AOSHIMA A member of art production company Kaikai Kiki and the Superflat movement (both founded by legendary Japanese

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Japan’s contemporary art scene is richly diverse, home to pioneering artists who have transformed the industry’s landscape on a global scale. From Takashi Murakami‘s Superflat movement to Yayoi Kusama‘s polka dotted universe, to collaborative and performative approaches visual media and the futuristic use of technology in art practices artist Takashi Murakami), Chiho Aoshima is best known for her fantastical urban pop creatures and landscapes. An autodidact who started working with graphic art in Murakami’s factory, Aoshima creates surreal dreamscapes inhabited by ghosts, demons, young women, and elements of nature. Her artwork is typically large-scale and printed on paper with materials such as leather and plastic, for texture. In 2006, Aoshima produced City Glow, Mountain Whisper (2006) at Gloucester Road station in London as part of Art on the Underground, where 17 successive platform arches created a magical landscape which gradually transformed from day to night, urban to rural. The work depicted Aoshima’s utopian world in which time is suspended and organic creatures are one with otherwise inanimate things.

CHIHARU SHIOTA Chiharu Shiota is a performance and installation artist who creates large-scale, site-specific visual installations.

Central to her practice are themes of memory and oblivion, dreams and reality, past and present, and the confrontation of anxiety. Her most celebrated works are impenetrable webs of black thread that enclose a variety of household, personal, and everyday objects, such as old chairs, a burnt piano, a wedding dress, and sometimes the artist herself. Labyrinth of Memory (2012) comprises of a series of dresses engulfed by the ubiquitous black thread present in so many of her works.

These dresses are conceived of as a “second skin”, both molding to and constricting the body. The omnipresence of black yarn

EI ARAKAWA: The Day When Soccer Became Money

artistic sensibility is informed by a performative, indeterminate, ‘everywhere-but-nowhere’ condition. His work pops up in unexpected places internationally, multiplying through collaborative processes. In 2013, his work was exhibited in the ‘Kamikaze Loggia‘ (Georgian Pavilion) at the Venice Biennale, and in a survey of Japanese contemporary art titled Roppongi Crossing at the Mori Art Museum. His installation Hawaiian Presence (2014) was a collaborative project with New Yorkbased artist Carissa Rodriguez for the 2014 Whitney Biennial.

At Frieze London in 2014, Arakawa and his brother Tomoo – working as a duo under the name ‘United Brothers’ – presented a performance work entitled Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent? in which the pair offered soup to visitors, reputedly made with Fukushima’s ‘radioactive’ daikon roots.

CHIHARU SHIOTA: Perspective

is intended to describe and enforce this exact relationship.

In the summer of 2014, Shiota installed Perspectives (2004), made with more than 300 donated shoes accompanied by handwritten notes from each donor, confiding one personal memory. Shiota then connected the shoes with a string of red yarn, each suspended from the same hook. Shiota represented Japan at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015 and her first exhibition at Blain Southern, Berlin that opened during Berlin Art Week in 2016 caused a sensation.

KOKI TANAKA Deutsche Bank’s 2015 ‘Artist of the Year’, Koki Tanaka’s visual approach explores community and a shared experience of creativity and imagination, encouraging exchange amongst participants whilst advocating for new rules of collaboration.

KOKI TANAKA: Gum Monster

EI ARAKAWA Ei Arakawa is inspired by states of change, periods of instability, happy accidents, and elements of risk. His performance pieces and installations involve themes of collectivity, friendship, simultaneity and improvisation. Arakawa’s work is almost always collaborative, and engages with art’s element of social spectacle – from production to destruction. His BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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His installation at the 2013 Venice Biennale’s Japan Pavilion consisted of a video with objects transforming the Pavilion into a platform for artistic sharing. Tanaka’s videos and installations explore the relationship between objects and actions, recording simple gestures performed with everyday items such as a knife cutting vegetables, beer poured into a glass, and the opening of an umbrella. Nothing of magnitude happens in these videos, yet the compulsive repetition and attention to minute detail compel the viewer to value the mundane.

RYOJI IKEDA: Test pattern

MARIKO MORI

MARIKO MORI: ‘Infinite Energy’

Mariko Mori creates multimedia works in video, photography, new media, and installation art. She expresses a minimalist, futuristic vision through sleek, surreal forms. A recurring theme in Mori’s work is the juxtaposition of Eastern mythology with Western culture, as seen in her digitally-layered images. Mori came to prominence with Wave UFO, which debuted at Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria in 2003.

Subsequently, this piece traveled to New York and was later included in the 2005 Venice Biennale. In 2010, Mori founded the Faou Foundation, an educational and cultural non-profit organization through which she dedicated a series of her own harmonious, site-specific permanent art installations to honour the six habitable continents.

Most recently, a Faou Foundation permanent installation titled Ring: One with Nature has been installed over a scenic waterfall at Visconde Mauá in Resende, not far from Rio de Janerio.

shade, volume, shadow, electronic sounds, and rhythm to flood the senses. Ikeda’s famous Test pattern [no.5] comprises five projectors that illuminate a floor space some 28 metres long and eight metres wide. The installation converts data (text, sounds, photos, and movies) into barcode and binary patterns of zeroes and ones. Ikeda’s oeuvre also includes one night performances, such as datamatics [ver.2.0], an updated version of an audiovisual concert that he has presented in several venues around the world since 2006, starting from Zero1, San Jose, California, for ISEA 2006. Ikeda examines and applies mathematical and scientific methods to shape music, time and space, creating mesmerising experiences. He explores sound and vision, deconstructing their physical properties to reveal the complex relationships involved in human perception. Ultimately, Ikeda tests the extreme potentials of digital technology, challenging the thresholds of perception.

TAKASHI MURAKAMI Takashi Murakami is one of Japan’s most iconic contemporary artists. From paintings to large-scale sculptures and fashion collaborations, Murakami’s work is influenced by manga and anime.

Founder of the Superflat movement and the Kaikai Kiki artist collective, Murakami has developed and supported the careers of many of his contemporaries. The term ‘superflat’ describes both the aesthetic characteristics of the Japanese artistic tradition, and the nature of post-war Japanese culture and society. Tradition left a legacy

RYOJI IKEDA Ryoji Ikeda is a new media and sound artist whose work primarily engages with sound in a variety of ‘raw’ states – from sine tones to noise – employing frequencies at the edge of the human hearing range. His performances and immersive installations comprise computer-generated sounds that transform visually into video projections, or digital patterns. Ikeda’s audiovisual work uses scale, light, TAKASHI MURAKAMI: Animated Lifesize Sculpture

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of flat, two-dimensional imagery, with emphasis on flat planes of color, which has been re-elaborated in contemporary culture through manga and anime. Post-war Japan has also experienced a ‘flattening’ of differences in social class and popular taste. Murakami’s own practice involves repackaging elements that are usually considered ‘low’ or sub-cultural and presenting them in the ‘high’ art markets of fashion and art. His provocative My Lonesome Cowboy (1998) sold at Sotheby’s New York for a record $15.2 million in 2008. In addition to his artwork, Murakami has collaborated with Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Issey Miyake.

TATSUO MIYAJIMA

TATSUO MIYAJIMA: Connectwith Everything, Light Installations Art

Tatsuo Miyajima is a sculptor and installation artist whose highly technological works employ contemporary materials such as electric circuits, video, and computers, centered on the use of gadgets since the 1980s. Miyajima’s core artistic concepts draw inspiration from humanist ideas and Buddhist teachings. The LED counters in his installations continuously flash in repetition from 1 to 9, symbolizing the journey from life to death, but avoiding finality, which is represented by 0 and never appears in his work. His ever-present numerals, presented in grids, towers, and circuits express his interest in ideas of continuity, connection, eternity, and the flow of time and space.

Most recently, Miyajima’s work titled Arrow of Time (Unfinished Life) was showcased in the Met Breuer’s inaugural exhibition, Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible in New York City.

YAYOI KUSAMA: Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, Installation

since become her trademark. Such illusory visions are, for Kusama, the product of hallucinations she has experienced since childhood, in which the world seems to be covered in proliferating forms. Kusama has covered entire rooms with colourful dots and ‘infinity’ mirrors that endlessly reflect colourful light forms.

YOSHITOMO NARA Yoshitomo Nara creates paintings, sculptures and drawings depicting his signature wide-eyed children and dogs – subjects that attempt to capture a child-like sense of boredom and frustration, and recapturing the fierce independence natural to children. Reminiscent of traditional book illustrations, his aesthetic presents a restless tension, partly influenced by Nara’s love of punk rock. The titles of his works are testimony to this, from The Girl with the Knife in Her Side (1991) to Silent Violence (1998), Neurotic to the Bone (1999), and There is Nothing (2000). In 2011, New York City’s Asia Society Museum held his first major solo exhibition titled Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, comprising work that spans the artist’s 20-year career.

The works on show were intimately connected to the sensibilities of youth subcultures worldwide, focusing on themes of alienation and rebellion, particularly in relation to rock and punk music. ■ YOSHIMOTO NARA: Greeting from a Place in My Heart

YAYOI KUSAMA With an astounding career spanning seven decades, Yayoi Kusama has explored the realms of painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, performance, film, printmaking, installation and environmental art, as well as literature, fashion, and product design. Kusama has developed a highly distinctive style of polka dotted art, which has BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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JAPANESE HERITAGE

Inspiring Future From The Past

KUMANO CITY

Tjhe cultures and traditions of Japan are passed down through stories based on unique regional histories and traditions. The Agency for Cultural Affairs recognises these stories as Japanese Heritage.The Agency aims to revitalise local communities through comprehensive maintenance and utilisation of these attractive tangible and intangible cultural properties and their strategic promotion in Japan and overseas 46 |

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or tangible Cultural Heritage, Japan is taking part in the international system of protection established through the World Heritage Convention.

For intangible Cultural Heritage, Japan commenced fullfledged domestic efforts for their protection with the establishment of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties in 1950, far ahead of other countries. It has since been using the wealth of knowledge that it gained through that experience to take a leading role in the creation and implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

With its long history, traditional culture and beautiful nature, ten Cultural Heritage Sites and three Natural Heritage Sites.

SHIRETOKO NATIONAL PARK

BROWN BEARS IN SHIRETOKO NATIONAL PARK

SHIRETOKO NATIONAL PARK Shiretoko, a natural heritage site registered only in July 2005, is considered to be the last pristine wilderness remaining in Japan. It is a long narrow peninsula located in north-eastern Hokkaido. The volcanic Shiretoko mountain range runs down the centre of the peninsula and includes the highest peak of the range, Mt. Rausu (1,661m above sea level) and the active volcano, Iouyama. The Sea of Okhotsk lies on the western side of the range and the Nemuro Straits on the eastern side.

The coastline cliffs facing the Sea of Okhotsk rise up more than 100m.

The salmon and trout that breed in the sea off Shiretoko are an important food resource supporting the terrestrial ecosystem with rare birds such as Blakiston’s fish owl, Steller’s sea eagle and the whitetailed sea eagle, as well as brown bears.

and 151 important cultural assets are preserved on the temple’s vast premises, and it is a treasure house of Japanese art; at the same time it is also known as the oldest wooden structure in the world. This complex is divided into the Western Precinct centring on the Kondo (main building) and Goju-no-tou (five-story pagoda) and the Eastern Precinct centering on the Yumedono (dream pavilion). The remarkable feature of this temple is you can see patterns everywhere in which the Silk Road culture and unique Japanese culture are subtly and perfectly blended.

KUMANO NACHI TAISHA Kumano Nachi Taisha is one of the three Kumano shrines, situated a few kilometres inland from the coastal hot spring resort of Katsuura.

The shrine is part of a large complex of neighbouring religious sites that exemplify the fusion of Buddhist and Shinto influences that is particular to the Kumano region. The site also boasts the tallest waterfall in Japan.

The veneration of the Kumano shrines as holy sites of Shintoism predates Buddhism’s introduction to Japan in the mid 6th century.

HORYU-JI BUDDHIST MONUMENTS The oldest wooden building in the world, Horyu-ji Temple was the first Japanese world heritage site registered back in 1993. Hoki-ji Temple is also registered as a world heritage site.

The core temple, Horyu-ji, was built in the year 607 by Shotoku Taishi (574-622), a politician of that time. Thirty-eight national treasures HORYU-JI KONDO AND PAGODA

THE PAGODA OF SEIGANTOJI AND NACHI NO TAKI WATERFALL

Directly beside the eminent shrine is the Buddhist temple Seigantoji. The buildings of both the shrine and the temple are impressive, and among the buildings of Seigantoji there is a three-storey pagoda.

A short distance from Seigantoji and Nachi Taisha is the 133 metre waterfall Nachi no Taki. The tallest waterfall in Japan, it was the original religious site in the area.

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GENBAKU DOME

KUMANO CITY Kumano City is located in Mie Prefecture, about 20 kilometres from the Wakayama border, along the former Iseji pilgrimage route, which connected the Kumano shrines with Ise. Only isolated sections of the route have been preserved to this date. Among them is the Matsumoto Pass trail in Kumano City. About a kilometre south of Kumano city centre stands Hana no Iwaya Shrine. According to legend, this ancient shrine is the location of the grave of Izanami, the deity who created the earth together with her husband Izanagi. The shrine is believed to be so old that its foundation even precedes the three Kumano shrines.

On the shrine grounds there is a massive, sacred rock that stands 45 metres high which is believed to have been revered by the pre-historic Japanese.

KERAMA ISLANDS Kerama Islands is located in the southwest part of Okinawa, which is a group of 22 islands. Among these islands, only four are inhabited (Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island). Its location played a significant contribution to Japanese history in the past. It became a staging area for the assault on Okinawa.

It is also the best place to go whale watching in Japan. The island is home to many wandering whales which have an annual migration, as this is where they give birth and raise their offspring. This provides tourists with a chance to conveniently watch the lumbering whales.

CAPE SHIONOMISAKI The small town of Kushimoto is located on the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula. Cape Shionomisaki, just south of Kushimoto town centre, is the southernmost point of Japan’s main island Honshu. A shrine and Shionomisaki Lighthouse stand nearby.

CAPE SHIONOMISAKI

Not far from Cape Shionomisaki and connected to the mainland by a large modern bridge is Oshima Island. The island is home to two small museums of foreign background and more coastal scenery.

The Turkish Memorial Museum is dedicated to an accident at sea in 1890, when a Turkish ship crashed on Oshima’s shores. Survivors from the ship were cared for by townspeople until they could be safely sent back to Turkey. The incident marks the beginning of a deep friendship between Japan and Turkey.

Oshima’s second foreign inspired museum is the Japan-U. S. Friendship Museum, which commemorates the arrival of two American tradeships to Oshima in 1791. The event is said to be the first occurrence of a “friendly” relationship between the two countries.

On the mainland, a series of rocks dot the coastline leading out towards Oshima Island. A legend claims that these rocks, called Hashigui-iwa, (meaning “bridge pillar rocks”) were created by the famous monk Kobo Daishi, after being challenged by a monster to build a bridge across the sea.

ITSUKUSHIMA SHRINE The centuries-old Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima is the source of both the island’s fame and its name. Formally named Itsukushima, the island is more popularly known as “Miyajima”, literally “shrine island” in

KERAMA ISLANDS

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KERAMA ISLANDS

the world for the “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” poses. The carved monkeys covering their eyes, ears and mouth, respectively, were inspired by the Buddhist teaching that if we do not hear, see or speak evil, we ourselves shall be spared from evil.

GENBAKU DOME The Genbaku Dome is the ruin of the former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall that was destroyed when the first nuclear weapon/atomic bomb in human history was dropped by an American air force bomber on 6th August 1945.

Because the atomic blast was almost directly above this spot, the walls of the building were partially spared from destruction, and the characteristic form of the building remained with the iron frame of the dome. This building representing Hiroshima, the first city to fall victim to nuclear bombing is registered as a World Heritage site as a symbol of prayer for permanent world peace and the elimination of all nuclear weapons

TOSHOU SHRINE, THREE MONKEYS

Japanese. The shrine is known worldwide for its iconic “floating” torii gate.

The shrine and its torii gate are unique for being built over water, seemingly floating in the sea during high tide. The shrine complex consists of multiple buildings, including a prayer hall, a main hall and a noh theatre stage, which are connected by boardwalks and supported by pillars above the sea.

It has a long history as a holy site of Shinto. The island’s highest peak, Mount Misen, was worshiped by local people as early as the 6th century. In 1168, Taira no Kiyomori, the most powerful man in Japan during the end of the Heian Period, selected the island as the site of his clan’s family shrine and built Itsukushima Shrine.

TOSHOGU SHRINE Toshogu is where Ieyasu Tokugawa (ruling from 1603 to 1605) is enshrined; he was the first shogun of the Edo Shogunate, which flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries. As many as 127,000 craftsmen were involved in constructing the shrine, using the highest level of technology available at the time. The two-story “Yomei-mon Gate”, decorated with brilliant colors and over 500 sculptures, is particularly famous. It is also called “Higurashi-mon (sunset gate)”, because people spend all day long gazing at its beauty.

One of the sculptures, the “Three Monkeys”, is famous throughout

RYOAN-JI TEMPLE It is Japan’s most famous “hiraniwa” (flat garden void of hills or ponds) and reveals the stunning simplicity and harmony of the principles of Zen meditation.

Ryoan-ji Temple is famous for its mysterious rock garden, the most celebrated in Japan, which defies attempts at explanation.

Enclosed by an earthen wall, fifteen carefully placed rocks seem to drift in a sea of raked white gravel. From whatever angle you view the garden, you can never see all fifteen stones.

The temple was built in 1450 by Daimyo Hosokawa Katsumoto (15611628), but no one knows for certain when the rock garden was made, who designed it, or what the designer’s intentions were. So what does the rock garden signify? You can only find out by seeing it for yourself. ■

RYOAN-JI TEMPLE

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JAPANESE POP CULTURE

B y B O JA N V U K A D I N OV I Ć

(Un) Familiarity With Japanese Animation In Serbia When one mentions Japan, most people think of traditional Japan, the Edo period, geisha, the tea ceremony, while on the other hand is the idea of a country with advanced high technology, robots, highspeed trains and the glittering streets of Tokyo

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longside all of this, there is a side of Japan that has crept into the minds of young people all over the world. This is Japanese pop culture, and this terms primarily refers to animation, comics, fashion, music and video games.In 1990s Serbia there was a belief that cartoons, animation generally, and comics in particular, were mainly intended for the younger audience, which was not far from the truth. Namely, comics and cartoons rarely cover serious life issues. They were mostly short-story cartoons that were an episodic type and were mainly intended to convey a certain message and entertain at the same time. It was unusual to see teenagers reading comics or watching animated films.

In video clubs and occasionally on TV, some animated titles from Japan could be found for the older audience. Those who had the opportunity to see them experienced a culture shock that mostly resulted in greater curiosity and interest in what Japanese animation has to offer.

After a couple of decades, the situation is changing massively – both in Serbia and worldwide. The majority animated series and comics are made in Japan, and there are virtually no teenagers who have not heard of series like “Naruto”, “Dragon Ball Z” and “Death Note”. Japanese animation’s Western breakthrough went very slowly

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and without a specific plan. All this primarily happened thanks to the development of the internet, as well as the fact that the fans themselves transferred and showed their favourite series to their friends.

DEVELOPMENT OF JAPANESE COMICS AND ANIMATION The first roots of comic strips in Japan are primarily in the traditional fine art genre known as “Ukiyo-e”, the subsequent mixing of which with modern styles led to the comic as we know it today.

The arrival in Japan of Matthew C. Perry, 1794-1858, a fleet commander and U.S. representative, coupled with the opening of Japan to the rest of the world, saw the successful launch of a revolution in all spheres of life in that country. Of course, in addition to military exchanges and technical progress, also arriving in the Land of the Rising Sun were magazines, as new forms of expression, and the first types of comics.

The European style of drawing was presented to the Japanese by two strange foreigners: Englishman Charles Wirgman (1835-1891), and Frenchman George Bigot (1860-1927). Wirgman was a self-taught artist who was sent to Japan in 1857 as a correspondent for Illustrated London News. He married a Japanese girl and remained there for the rest of his life. In 1862 he published a humorous magazine called the Japan Punch, in the British style

and targeting the foreign community in Yokohama. The Japan Punch was primarily a text-based publication that was rarely mentioned in the world beyond foreign circles in Yokohama, but it had Wirgman’s illustrations, which he painted in typical British style, with weak shading.

Osau Tezuka is the person most often cited as the father of the ‘manga’ style and modern comics in Japan. Born 1928 in the city of Toyonaka, which is famous for having a theatre in which all roles are played exclusively by women, his mother often took him to theatre performances, which left a deep trace on him and his future work. On the other hand, his father introduced him to the magic of cinematography, and from an early age he was impressed by the animated films of Walt Disney. He graduated in medicine, but didn’t actively work in that domain, as his love was drawing, and he later stated that his mistress was animation.

He was a great humanist, which had a direct impact on all his comics and animated films. He has established some of the main characteristics of today’s manga style, such as large eyes, unusual haircuts and the specific kind of framing. Although his drawing style was somewhat childish, the topics he dealt with were often intended for a serious, older audience.

The most famous anime (animated works originating in Japan) series that he published were “Astroboy”, “Kimba the White Lion” and “Princess Knight”.

OSAMU TEZUKA

more realistic stories with a focus on emotions and romantic relationships.

Examples of shōjo titles include “Nana”, “Ouran High School Host Club”, “Princess Knight”.

- Seinen - (“Youth”), intended for a male audience aged over 20.

They are based on action, political intrigue, crime stories, interpersonal relationships and other topics from real life.

Examples of seinen titles include “20th Century Boys”, “Akira”, “Berserk”, “Ghost in the Shell”.

- Josei - (“comics for ladies”), representing a progression of the seinen genre. They are intended for women aged over 20. Topics addressed include realistic romances, but also some far more serious and unpleasant topics and situations that anyone can encounter.

Examples of josei titles incude “Paradise Kiss”, “Honey and Clover”, “Nodame Cantabile”.

GENRES One of the main characteristics of anime/manga as a medium is the fact that there are titles intended for various audiences. Each title can be classified under several genres and subgenres.

The first roots of comic strips in Japan are primarily in the traditional - Shōnen - Perhaps the most popular genre when it fine art genre known as “Ukiyo-e”, the subsequent mixing of which comes to anime and manga. with modern styles led to the comic as we know it today The name itself is composed of the words “boy” - Kodomo - (“child”), episodic series intended for the youngest, and “young”, indicating that these series are intended for boys aged with the intention of teaching the audience good behaviour and eight to 18. These are mostly action titles accompanied by humour, which enabling them to extract some important life lessons. focus on the development of the main character, where the importance Examples of kodomo titles include “Doraemon”, “Crayon Shin-chan”. of friendship and communion is often pronounced.

Examples of shōnen titles include “Naruto”, “Dragon Ball”, “Fairy In addition to demographic genres, there are additional divisions in Tail”, “Fullmetal Alchemist”. thematic genres. The list of topics that can be processed is enormous - Shōjo – literally translated as “young woman”, which indicates that and constantly growing, but some of the most common are regular genre these titles are intended for a female teenage audience. Topics include divisions in the West (action, drama, adventure, comedy, horror, history JOSEI MANGA etc.). It is necessary to separate the mecha thematic genre, because it is specific to Japan and relates to series in which an important role is played by mechanical robots run by humans. Some of the most popular mecha titles include “Evangelion”, “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” and “Mobile Suit Gundam”. Similar genres include mahou shojo (magical girl), harem, sport, ecchi (titles with mildly erotic scenes), fantasy, martial arts etc.

Anime and manga are no longer unknown to the audience in Serbia, but they are still fighting for their place on television and in other media, when it comes to legal distributors and publishers. We hope that at least tickled your imagination a bit and prompted you to dive into the wonderful world of anime and manga. ■ BUSINESS PARTNER JAPAN

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