Japanese Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Tsukasa Uemura has stressed the determination of his country to build further relations with the Kingdom, describing the visit of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, to Japan as an encouraging momentum to bilateral relations between the two countries, pointing out that the vision 2030 enhances the Kingdom's bright status in the world. In a statement to Saudi Press Agency, the Ambassador said: Our bilateral relations in the last century mainly developed along with oil trade and business transactions. We import more than one million B/D of oil from Saudi Arabia; the single largest supplier of oil for Japan. Quite a number of joint projects and investment projects are going on as well. At the same time, we have tried to diversify our relations into the strategic partnership. Periodical political dialogues and cooperation for combatting piracy offshore Somalia are notable examples of such efforts. Thus, we are determined to build much more amicable and broader relations with Saudi Arabia as indispensable partners to each other. In 2017, Prime Minister Abe held a summit meeting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. At the meeting, both sides decided "Saudi-Japan Vision 2030", which is a compilation of the basic directions for bilateral cooperation and the specific projects therein. It was the outcome of discussion under the framework of the intergovernmental dialogue called "Joint Group for Saudi-Japan Vision 2030," the formulation of which was decided on by HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and Prime Minister Abe in September 2016. On June 17th in 2019, The 3rd Joint Group Meeting for Saudi-Japan Vision 2030(SVJ2030) was held in Tokyo. Japan side was headed by Mr. Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and Mr. Kenji Yamada, Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs. Saudi side was headed by Mr. Mohammad Mazyed Mohammad Al-Tuwaijiri, Minister of Economy and Planning and Eng. Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. 64 Ministries and organizations from both sides participated in the Joint Group Meeting. Based on the discussion of the Joint Group Meeting, the latest update of wide range of progress was approved as "Saudi Japan Vision 2030 2.0" by the ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Japan. In addition, the ministers adopted a booklet to publish the essence of "Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 2.0". HRH Crown Prince's official visit to Japan this time is the second time since his last visit on August 2016 . Since the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visited Japan in March 2017 and the both countries signed "Japan-Saudi Arabia Vision 2030", the bilateral relations between Japan and Saudi Arabia have been developed in many fields. Japan has continued support for Saudi reform led by HRH Crown Prince, and both of public and private sectors in Japan have continued and will continue to thoroughly promote the Vision projects under unwavering strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia. HRH Crown Prince's current visit to Japan must encourage the momentum of the current bilateral relations as well as promote cooperation with Saudi Arabia. --More 14:44 LOCAL TIME 11:44 GMT 0011 www.spa.gov.sa/1938983
