DAMMAM – The 13th Japan-Saudi Arabia Business Council Meeting was held at Asharqia Chamber here Sunday and attended by Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Abdulaziz Turkistani and Japanese Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Jiro Kodera. The meeting focused on industrial cooperation, development of industrial cities, petrochemical projects, development of human resources and expectations of Saudi-Japanese economy. During the meeting, Abdulrahman Al-Jeraisi, Chairman of the Saudi-Japanese Council, lauded the new trend of the Council of Saudi chambers to hold meetings for the joint Saudi foreign councils in the chambers of commerce in the Kingdom instead of restricting them to the headquarters of the council in Riyadh. He said the selection of Asharqia Chamber for this meeting comes due to the available suitable factors and opportunities. He drew attention to the fact that these factors are related to the Eastern Province through oil, gas, petrochemicals, energy, marine transport and industrial exports. The Japanese delegation comprises 100 members of several Japanese companies specialized in commercial, industrial and financial activities as well as representatives of Japanese companies specialized in petrochemicals, energy, water management, oil, gas, services, renewable energy, infrastructure and engineering, developing business, banking and financial services, research, consultations, and the latest developments in Japanese technology. Turkistani said the Kingdom's embassy in Japan has directives from Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, that the embassy must always keep pace with these commercial and industrial relations between the Kingdom and Japan. He said the Kingdom's embassy in Japan has a 4 by 4 plan – four years in four strategies to develop the petroleum relations between the two countries. He lauded the efforts to develop bilateral relations and support the Saudi Japanese Business Council and its activities. In 2011, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries increased to approximately SR212 billion, compared with SR165.6 billion in 2010. The Saudi imports from Japan amounted to SR31.1 billion, while the Saudi exports to Japan exceeded SR180.8 billion. – SG/SPA
