Romania has sent Aurelian Neagu, one of its Japan experts, to Tokyo as ambassador at a time when Japanese companies are considering investing in Romania and Bulgaria in the runup to the two nations' planned entry into the European Union in 2007.
Neagu, who took the post in May for his third assignment to Japan, believes one of his missions is to increase Japanese investments to Romania, which totaled $68.84 million between 1991 and December 2004, and ranked 22nd among countries investing in Romania, according to data made available to the Japan External Trade Organization. Koyo Seiko Co., Yazaki Corp. and YKK Corp. are among major Japanese investors in Romania.
Romania has seen a steady increase in foreign direct investment, totaling $13.58 billion as of the end of 2004, making it the first Southeast European country to top the $10 billion mark.