Pahor, who is accompanied by a 33-member business delegation on his trip, stressed in the address that both Slovenia and Japan were committed to sustainable development goals, especially regarding permanent use and management of natural resources and mitigating negative effects on the environment.

At the seminar, organised by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the activities of NEDO and the Slovenian SPIRIT agency in the area of smart communities were presented.

State-of-the-art technologies and approaches in this field were also presented by some high-tech Slovenian and Japanese companies.

In light of cooperation between Slovenia and Japan in high-tech and smart communities, Pahor proposed that Slovenia assume the role of a smart region which could be used as a reference point for joint development solutions for other markets in Europe, Japan and elsewhere in the world.

Earlier today, the Slovenian president made a stop at engineering and electronics conglomerate company Hitachi.

On the first day of his visit, Pahor met Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with whom he discussed the potential to boost cooperation between the nations, especially in trade and investment.

Members of Pahor's delegation meanwhile visited the Toyota and Panasonic showrooms yesterday, and went to Yokohama after today's seminar to inspect a "smart house" there and Nissan's showroom.

Foreign Ministry State Secretary Igor Senčar, who is also in the delegation, met Deputy Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Akitaka Saiki today. The pair confirmed there was interest on both sides for the strengthening of political and economic cooperation.

Senčar said Slovenia would back Japan in its talks with the EU on the signing of a framework agreement and an agreement on free trade.

He reiterated that Slovenia has hopeful of progress in the negotiations with Japan on the avoidance of double taxation.