Tuesday, 29 September 2020
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XHAFERI AND H.E. KEIKO HANEDA
At today's farewell meeting with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Japan, H.E. Keiko Haneda, the President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, expressed satisfaction with the cooperation with the Japanese Embassy, that is, with the first resident ambassador, H.E. Haneda. In that regard, Haneda stressed that she expects this cooperation to continue in the coming period with the new ambassador, continuing the trend of strengthening political and economic relations between the two countries. This will result in increased Japanese investments, and intensified cooperation in the fields of medicine, tourism, culture and other areas.
There are three major priorities ahead of us in the coming period. We expect to open accession negotiations with the EU this December, the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and dealing with the economic consequences of this pandemic, and I expect that we will successfully address these challenges, President Xhaferi said.
The Ambassador of Japan, H.E. Keiko Haneda, expressed satisfaction with her stay in our country during these three years as Ambassador of Japan, and expressed confidence that cooperation with the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia will continue with her successor at the highest level. In that regard, she thanked for the cooperation and communication between the Embassy of Japan and the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, and with the Parliamentary Group for Cooperation. The 
Ambassador also noted that many good and positive events have taken place in the Republic of North Macedonia in these three years, such as the full NATO membership and the date for the start of EU negotiations, and expressed the expectation that President Xhaferi will continue to successfully lead the Assembly in the future and deal with the challenges.
In the end, both interlocutors agreed that the cooperation between the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Japanese Embassy will continue as before, at the highest level.