Tokyo: The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Saudi Ministry of Investment jointly hosted the sixth "Saudi-Japan Vision 2030" ministerial meeting on Tuesday in Tokyo.

On the Japanese side, the meeting was attended by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yamada Kenji and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi. Nishimura delivered the opening address of the meeting.

The opening remarks were made by Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Investment, who was present at the meeting with Naif Al-Fahdi, the kingdom's ambassador to Japan.

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The minister said Japan is a trusted partner and Saudi Arabia is "very keen to promote and strengthen this strategic partnership with Japan."

The Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030 meeting, according to Al-Falih, took place just before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's state visit to Japan from November 19-21.

According to the minister, 89 initiatives of the vision are "being implemented, some of which have already been completed". He continued by saying that it was important to emphasize the quantity as well as the quality of these initiatives.

By the end of this decade, Saudi Arabia wants to be among the top fifteen economies in the world, according to Al-Falih. "The Saudi economy is already expanding at a rate of 10.2 percent in the first three quarters of 2022," he said. "Among the G20 economies that have the fastest growth rate."

We currently have over 40 industrial cities that are fully developed, and many of them are home to Japanese people who are doing incredibly well in the industrial sector, he claimed. Al-Falih said Japanese businesses are welcome to invest in almost every sector in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi minister said the country "has a new space strategy to be among the top ten space nations by 2030 and become a global space champion."

We would love to see JAXA, the Japanese aerospace exploration agency, participate in our space program. We will prioritize commercial returns from our space program, and we will boost your competitiveness and increase our share of the space market."

At the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030 meeting, Al-Falih informed the audience that Saudi Arabia wants to significantly increase its gas production capacity, including the production and export of LPG, which is essential to the Japanese economy.

He announced, "We are investing here in Japan, first with Showa Shell, and now with Idemitsu. But we will also be investing in Saudi Arabia."

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Blue and green hydrogen are also important to Saudi Arabia's plans, according to Al-Falih. We started talks with our Japanese counterparts more than ten years ago, and Saudi Arabia is investing in blue and green hydrogen in a big way like no other.

Al-Falih claimed that during his previous visit to Japan, he signed a memorandum of understanding and assisted in bringing together Aramco and the Japanese-led Hydrogen Council.

The largest hydrogen project in the world is being built at NEOM, where ARAMCO is investing in coordination and consultation with Japanese businesses to produce 11 million tonnes of blue hydrogen.

Al-Falih praised Japan for its preparation for Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, while mentioning that Saudi Arabia is working hard to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh.

The Saudi delegation was welcomed by Nishimura, who also heads the Japan-Saudi Parliamentary Friendship League, and stressed the value of the relationship between the two countries.

"Saudi Arabia is the most important partner in energy security for Japan, which imports about 40% of its crude oil from Saudi Arabia," he said in his opening remarks. "I want to thank you once again for the long-term stability of crude oil supplies.

Due to the unpredictability of energy supply and demand in the world due to the situation in Ukraine, I also expect Saudi Arabia to take a leadership role in regulating the global crude oil market.

"In addition, Saudi Arabia's leadership has emphasized the importance of mega-projects and socio-economic reforms as the new growth engine for the Middle East and to achieve the global trend towards carbon neutrality.

Through the Japan-Saudi Vision, Japan will support Saudi Arabia's economic and social reforms. We will continue to accelerate and broaden our efforts with the Saudi people.

According to Nishimura, there has been "steady progress" since the fifth ministerial meeting two years ago. They discussed some notable initiatives, such as cooperation in the clean energy sector.

“[Clean energy] is critical to Saudi Arabia's reform towards an oil-free society. A comprehensive cooperation agreement in the field of hydrogen and ammonia was signed by JOGMEC and Saudi Aramco last month. We realize a sustainable society Will work to do more quickly, he announced.

Nishimura continued, saying "Saudi Arabia has a strong demand for housing construction."

He said, "In collaboration with a Saudi conglomerate, a Japanese building materials company has started a project to manufacture and supply homes in Saudi Arabia using a concrete 3D printer.

The Japanese minister declared that efforts are being made to establish an R&D facility in Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture, which will house and educate about 100 Saudi engineers each year. 

They will use Japanese technology to "contribute to the realisation of a digital society in specific fields, such as construction," he continued.

Cooperation in new fields that reflect Saudi Arabia's social reforms is another example of a representative initiative.
E-sports competitions between the two nations were held in Saudi Arabia and Japan, in the entertainment sector. 

Additionally, many Saudi and Japanese cosplayers dressed as Japanese anime characters like "Dragon Ball" and "Kimetsu no Yaiba" at the 2nd Saudi Anime Expo in Riyadh last month.

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"The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will continue to support this field," he said. "It is a great pleasure that Japan's content industry is contributing to economic and social reform."

"Shukran Jazeelan" (thank you very much) is how I would like to end by expressing my respect for the leadership of everyone present and the work of all the organisations supporting the project. In Arabic, Nishimura expressed his gratitude to his visitors.

Minister Nishimura's concluding remarks brought the event to a close, after which the delegations moved to another room to sign documents and exchange gifts.