Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and hundreds of business leaders from the kingdom were in Japan yesterday for talks mainly expected to focus on economic ties.
The visit is the first by a Saudi king in 46 years, though Salman visited more recently as crown prince.
Saudi Arabia is one of Japan’s biggest suppliers of crude oil, accounting for about a third of its total imports of oil from the Middle East.
Photo: EPA
The kingdom is striving to diversify its economy away from its heavy reliance on oil exports, and Salman is on a month-long tour of Asia to advance his kingdom’s economic and business interests.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga yesterday told reporters that Japan is willing to provide support for the economic power in the Middle East.
“We will discuss growth strategy, including our ‘Saudi vision’ project,” he said, referring to Japanese collaboration with Vision 2030, a road map adopted last year by the kingdom for its development and economic objectives.
He did not confirm reports that the countries would agree to set up a special economic zone in Saudi Arabia.
Salman met with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida and was to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later yesterday.
Reports say Japan plans to urge that Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil company that is being partially privatized, seek a share listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Separately, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Japanese telecoms provider and energy company Softbank have joined forces in setting up a US$25 billion private fund for technology investments.
Trade between the countries last year fell as oil prices dropped. Japan’s ¥2.1 trillion (US$18.6 billion) in imports from Saudi Arabia last year, mostly oil and gas, dwarfed its exports of ¥546.3 billion.
The delegation arrived late on Sunday on about 10 aircraft.
Officials said top hotels and car hire services would be busy handling the unusually large group during its four-day visit.
Salman’s stop in Japan follows visits to Indonesia and Malaysia. He is due to travel on to Brunei, China and the Maldives.
While seeking investment and help with Saudi industrialization and development of its services sector, Salman has also offered help.
Earlier, he pledged US$1 billion in development finance for Indonesia and closer cooperation for combating transnational crime such as human trafficking, terrorism and the drugs trade.
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