Tadashi Nagai became honorary citizen of Belgrade

(Tadashi Nagai)

Tadashi Nagai, former Ambassador of Japan to Belgrade, has been made a honorary citizen of Belgrade by the decision of the board members of the City Assembly. The decision was proposed by the City Council, at the initiative of the Belgrade Assembly Speaker Aleksandar Antić and Mayor Dragan Đilas. Explaining that decision, Đilas reminded that, since 2000, Japan had given the biggest donations to Serbia and Belgrade of all countries, as well as that Nagai had significantly contributed to that.

He reminded that, during Nagai's mandate as the Ambassador, Belgrade had been donated, among the rest, 15.2 million euros worth of 93 buses for the City Transportation Company. Japan also donated EUR 7.3m for improvement of the city water supply system, as well as three ambulances worth USD 80,000.

According to his words, this initiative was backed by large number of organizations and individuals.

- Mr. Nagai lived in Belgrade for nearly 20 years, speaks excellent Serbia and understands the situation in the country completely, as well as all our problems, and he personally contributed to establishment of the current relationship between Japan and Serbia when it comes to humanitarian aid, that is, donations. We all know that the city got yellow buses from Japan. People may not know that some things that they use on daily basis also came from Japan. Having all that in mind, I am of the opinion that it is absolutely justified and logical that one such man gets this recognition and that we express gratitude to Japan for helping us the most over the last ten years by building a fountain dedicated to Japan - said Đilas.