Prince Ahmed Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, Governor of Al Dir'iya, has sponsored the opening ceremony of the "Energy Efficiency" seminar. The seminar was organized by SEHAI (Saudi Electronics and Home Appliances Institute) in cooperation with Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry represented by MRI (Mitsubishi Research Institute) and ECCJ (The Energy Conservation Center, Japan). The seminar was supported by the Japanese embassy in KSA in partnership with SEEP (Saudi Energy Efficiency Program). The opening was attended by Prince Muhammad Bin Khalid Al Abdallah Al Faisal, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the institute, ambassador of Japan to the Kingdom Norihiro Okuda, the owners of electronics and home appliances companies and dignitaries. Dr. Ismael Mohammed Mufarreh, Executive Director of SEHAI, said in his address that the workshop is intended to the rationalization of energy consumption and increasing its efficiency through the residential, transportation or in the commercial sectors etc. Mufarreh added that another goal of organizing this workshop is its benefits for the trainees of the institute as it is closely related to their technical specialties and training modules as well as its benefits for the staff of different companies specialized in electronics etc. Okuda in his speech said "the last year witnessed the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Japan and KSA. For all this time, the two friend countries were linked with strong ties of cooperation in the field of energy, as Japan relies on KSA in the import of 30% of its oil needs. We highly appreciate the enormous contribution of the kingdom to the stability of the global oil market." "While KSA is still Japan's main provider of energy, relations between the Kingdom and Japan evolve and develop beyond this traditional relation of energy import and export, towards building a real partnership that is useful for both parties," he added. The seminar was concluded by Sho Inokuchi, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in Japan.
