Lithuanian president receives letters of credence from Japanese ambassador

The president pointed out that Lithuania and Japan were bound by strong bilateral ties, shared values and common position on international issues. According to the president, Japan is an important economic partner of Lithuania. We see a steady growth of trade between the two countries. Among the other issues discussed at the meeting was the further development of bilateral cooperation in culture, education, science, and technologies as well as the increasing flow of Japanese tourists to Lithuania.

The president invited Japanese business representatives to actively engage in strengthening bilateral economic and investment ties and to cooperate more closely in the transport sector by using the well-developed transport infrastructure in Lithuania.

During their meeting, the president and the ambassador discussed Lithuania-Japan collaboration in international organisations, Japan’s relations with the European Union and negotiations on the free trade agreement. The president said that Lithuania highly appreciated Japan’s support to Lithuania’s accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The newly appointed ambassador is the tenth Japanese ambassador to Lithuania and the third Japanese ambassador residing in Lithuania. Toyoei Shigeeda has a degree in law. In 1977, he started his diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he held a number of positions. The diplomat was adviser and minister at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organisations in Vienna. Before his appointment to Lithuania, he was consul general of Japan in Honolulu (the United States).