Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Affairs Slobodan Lalovic and Japanese Ambassador to Serbia-Montenegro Ryichi Tanabe opened today the "Japan-SCG" Centre for Simulation Sciences. During the opening ceremony, a Japanese donation was delivered to the Centre, consisting of two SX 6 supercomputers, which appear for the first time in southeastern Europe.
Apart from several university and science centres in Europe, only large companies such as Boeing, Mercedes and hydrometeorological centres of some countries have these supercomputers. The possession of these supercomputers opens the possibility of including Serbia's scientific institutions in the realisation of global projects, such as the change of climate in the region.
Minister Lalovic said that this event is of great importance for Serbia, because it allows for its return to world of modern technological, from which it has been excluded for a long time.
Lalovic said that the cooperation between Serbia and Japan will largely contribute to the development of science in the country and will slow down the braindrain, because young scientists will have an opportunity to get familiar with the latest issues in science and technology, with the use of SX 6 supercomputers.
Ambassador Tanabe said that the Centre for Simulation Sciences is a result of scientific exchange and cooperation between the two countries. He voiced hope that the cooperation in the field of scientific research will be another bridge that will link Serbia-Montenegro and Japan.
Tanabe said that the process of economic recovery and democratisation of a country is very difficult, stressing that the Japanese government repeatedly provided assistance to Serbia to facilitate that process. He specified that the Japanese government has assisted Serbia with the total of $70 million since the democratic changes.
Director General of the Japanese Earth Simulator Centre Tetsuya Sato, who played the vital role in the approving of the donation and opening of the Belgrade Simulation Centre, said that Serbia has outstanding resources for the promotion and development of simulation sciences, and that Belgrade has huge potential for becoming the world leader in science.