The historical relations between Saudi Arabia and Japan, spanning over 70 years, are based on mutual respect and common interests, ever since the era of the Kingdom's founder, late King Abdulaziz Al-Saud. As early as in 1938, a special envoy of King Abdulaziz visited Tokyo with a message of peace and friendship to the Japanese Emperor. In 1939, the Japanese ambassador to Egypt visited Riyadh with a similar message from the Emperor to King Abdulaziz. The first visit by a Japanese economic delegation to the Kingdom was in 1953. In 1955, economic ties took a major leap forward when the Saudi government granted an oil exploration concession to a Japanese company. The visit by the late Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Transport at the time, to Tokyo in 1960 marked the beginning of high-level reciprocal visits. In 1971, the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz made a landmark visit to Japan on an invitation from Emperor Hirohito. King Faisal toured Japan's industrial centers and was briefed about the big strides made by Japan in the post war era to bring the country back on the development track. In 2014, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the Crown Prince at the time, visited Japan when the Waseda University conferred him an honorary degree in law. The last visit by a senior Saudi official was in 2016 when Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Crown Prince, visited Japan during which several agreements were signed between the two countries. Late King Fahd bin Abdulaziz and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto built a strong partnership in 1997, while late King Abdullah, then Crown Prince, visited Japan in 1998 and signed the agenda of the Saudi-Japanese Cooperation. A number of common interests bind the two countries. The bilateral trade volume reached nearly $32 billion in 2015, of which exports accounted for $ 21.3 billion. Japan is the second largest importer of goods from the Kingdom, with imports touching nearly $10 billion. It is the fourth largest exporter to the Kingdom. Japan is the second largest investment partner to the Kingdom in the field of petrochemicals. The Kingdom now seeks to avail of Japan's economic, technical and manufacturing expertise to achieve the goals of its Vision 2030.
