JEDDAH — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday was an extension of a new phase in bilateral relations as well as the start of the second chapter of cooperation within the framework of the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030, officials from the Japanese Foreign Ministry told Saudi Gazette. When asked about the progress being made within the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030 that was launched in 2016, the Japanese officials said this year marks halfway into achieving the vision's goals. Kishida's visit to Saudi Arabia and talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman covered cooperation in several sectors, including energy, business, economy, commerce, national security and diplomatic policy, culture, technology, education and sports. Consultation and coordination through these sectors aim to take the level of cooperation between the two countries to an advanced stage, the officials said, pointing out that the meeting with the Crown Prince would also expand trade exchange between the two countries. Since Japan is Saudi Arabia's third trading partner in several sectors, especially oil — 40% of Japan's oil needs are met by the Kingdom — the officials said Saudi Arabia has always been a very important partner for Japan in terms of energy security, but the current visit also aims to expand the cooperation in the new energy sector, which includes clean energy, hydrogen, ammonia and others. As for the progress made so far within the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030, Ono Hikariko, Japanese Foreign Ministry Press Secretary confirmed that a new cooperation agreement will be announced in the field of clean energy under the name "Global Green Journey" initiative. Through the Global Green Journey, Japan and Saudi Arabia will expand their cooperation to jointly tackle the issue of climate change so that they can deal with decarbonization efforts, especially as Japan likes to embark on this new journey with the Kingdom. The Global Green Journey initiative will start as a bilateral cooperation pact between Saudi Arabia and Japan, then it will be expanded globally in the future. The cooperation between the two countries also included soft power, Hikariko confirmed to Saudi Gazette. When asked if there are any projects to be announced in terms of the entertainment, art and culture sector, he said Japan is ready to further expand bilateral cooperation in this field, especially since there are a huge number of fans and lovers of Japanese art in Saudi Arabia. Kishida arrived in Jeddah on Sunday on the first leg of his three-day trip to the Gulf, which will also take him to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Kishida's visit to Saudi Arabia saw the signing of 26 memorandums of understanding and investment agreements to enhance investment partnerships between the two countries in a wide range of sectors, as was announced during the Saudi-Japanese roundtable meeting. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Japan announced the resumption of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations after a suspension of about 14 years.
