Romania's envisioned admission to the European Union in 2007 will benefit not only Europe but Japan as well, giving Japanese goods access to the Southeastern European market, according to Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu.
Romania could give Japan "a lot of opportunities" in Southeastern Europe, an emerging market with huge potential to develop trade, Ungureanu said in an interview Tuesday.
"Southeast Europe could easily become a copycat of the Southeast Asian economic tigers," he said, calling on Tokyo to take advantage of the market.
Ungureanu said Romania's bid to join the EU is "going as planned."
With bird flu becoming a major issue at local and international levels, Ungureanu said Romania and Japan can cooperate in a complementary way, with Romania sharing its expertise on bird flu countermeasures and Japan doing its part through vaccine development.
In October, Romania found the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza in the Danube Delta, the largest European wetland and home to migratory birds.
Ungureanu, in Japan on a three-day visit, also met with Foreign Minister Taro Aso.
They confirmed during their 30-minute talk to pursue bilateral cooperation to resolve the North Korea abduction issue in light of reports North Korea also abducted a Romanian woman, Foreign Ministry officials said.
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