PHOTO
04 September 2016
RIYADH: Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday flew into the Chinese city of Hangzhou for the crucial G20 summit and talks with top world leaders, after wrapping up his four-day visit to Japan.
He will be leading the official delegation of the Kingdom to the high-profile G20 summit, the international forum of the governments of 20 major economies.
"Hectic two days of meetings and diplomatic engagements await Prince Mohammed in Hangzhou," said a diplomatic source.
The Saudi delegation includes ministers Ibrahim Al-Assaf (finance), Adel Al-Jubeir (foreign affairs), Khalid Al-Falih (energy, industry & mineral resources), besides Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) Gov. Ahmad Al-Khulaifi and a number of top officials.
Setsuo Ohmori, charge d'affaires at the Japanese Embassy, said the visit "would boost defense, energy, economy and cultural links with Japan."
Prince Mohammed, before leaving for China, had several meetings in Tokyo on Saturday also. He also met a large group of Saudi students in the Japanese capital and announced provision of scholarship for them.
The deputy crown prince also met with Hiroshi Saito, cochairman of the Saudi-Japanese Business Council (SJBC).
They discussed the need to promote trade and investment relations, vocational training and support to small and medium-size industries in the Kingdom. To this end, it is important to mention that the prince had a meeting with Yasushi Kimura, chairman of JX Holdings.
Prince Mohammed and Kimura discussed the company's investment in the industrial city of Yanbu besides the need to strengthen partnership between Aramco and JX Holdings. He also received at his residence in Tokyo Koichiro Miyahara, executive director of Japan Exchange Group; Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank; besides Yuriko Koike, governor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Speaking after the meeting, Koike said that Saudi-Japanese relations are "solid and based on shared interests in politics and economy." She said that she is looking forward to cooperating with Riyadh for the purpose of establishing a bridge between the two capitals. Speaking after his talks with high-ranking Japanese officials, Prince Mohammed said, "I will continue to cherish my country's historical relationship with Japan."
On the sidelines of the visit of Prince Mohammed, a number of other meetings between top Saudi and Japanese officials also took place. Finance Minister Al-Assaf had a separate meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, and the head of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Speaking on the occasion, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said, "Saudi Arabia is an important economic partner and a key player in the region's stability."
Kishida said that the Middle East was witnessing difficult challenges, represented by extremism, youth unemployment and instability, adding that Japan has "pledged to work with Saudi Arabia to achieve coexistence and prosperity and promote moderation in the region."
He said his country was keen on strengthening partnership with the Kingdom and contributing to the achievement of stability in the Middle East.
The Japanese foreign minister noted that his country was focusing on three main goals, namely contributing to economic reforms in Saudi Arabia, strengthening cooperation in culture and sports by promoting the Japanese culture in the Kingdom and consolidating political dialogue to achieve stability in the Middle East.
Kishida stressed the need to find "a solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria and Yemen," adding that his country would actively engage in talks with the deputy crown prince to reach constructive means of cooperation in this regard.
He said Japan was also seeking to extend its cooperation with other Arab countries in order to promote the values of coexistence and common prosperity.
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Ahmed Al-Barrak stressed the importance of the deputy crown prince's visit in consolidating ties between the two countries. "The visit was of paramount importance due to the two countries' excellent relations and converging views on many regional and international issues."
The ambassador added that the visit contributed to closer cooperation between the two countries, based on mutual respect to promote true partnership, as outlined by the summit meetings between the leaders of the two countries.
The Kingdom and Japan have forged closer ties in different sectors and the royal visit has further strengthened these ties, Al-Barrak added.
RIYADH: Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday flew into the Chinese city of Hangzhou for the crucial G20 summit and talks with top world leaders, after wrapping up his four-day visit to Japan.
He will be leading the official delegation of the Kingdom to the high-profile G20 summit, the international forum of the governments of 20 major economies.
"Hectic two days of meetings and diplomatic engagements await Prince Mohammed in Hangzhou," said a diplomatic source.
The Saudi delegation includes ministers Ibrahim Al-Assaf (finance), Adel Al-Jubeir (foreign affairs), Khalid Al-Falih (energy, industry & mineral resources), besides Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) Gov. Ahmad Al-Khulaifi and a number of top officials.
Setsuo Ohmori, charge d'affaires at the Japanese Embassy, said the visit "would boost defense, energy, economy and cultural links with Japan."
Prince Mohammed, before leaving for China, had several meetings in Tokyo on Saturday also. He also met a large group of Saudi students in the Japanese capital and announced provision of scholarship for them.
The deputy crown prince also met with Hiroshi Saito, cochairman of the Saudi-Japanese Business Council (SJBC).
They discussed the need to promote trade and investment relations, vocational training and support to small and medium-size industries in the Kingdom. To this end, it is important to mention that the prince had a meeting with Yasushi Kimura, chairman of JX Holdings.
Prince Mohammed and Kimura discussed the company's investment in the industrial city of Yanbu besides the need to strengthen partnership between Aramco and JX Holdings. He also received at his residence in Tokyo Koichiro Miyahara, executive director of Japan Exchange Group; Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank; besides Yuriko Koike, governor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Speaking after the meeting, Koike said that Saudi-Japanese relations are "solid and based on shared interests in politics and economy." She said that she is looking forward to cooperating with Riyadh for the purpose of establishing a bridge between the two capitals. Speaking after his talks with high-ranking Japanese officials, Prince Mohammed said, "I will continue to cherish my country's historical relationship with Japan."
On the sidelines of the visit of Prince Mohammed, a number of other meetings between top Saudi and Japanese officials also took place. Finance Minister Al-Assaf had a separate meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, and the head of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Speaking on the occasion, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said, "Saudi Arabia is an important economic partner and a key player in the region's stability."
Kishida said that the Middle East was witnessing difficult challenges, represented by extremism, youth unemployment and instability, adding that Japan has "pledged to work with Saudi Arabia to achieve coexistence and prosperity and promote moderation in the region."
He said his country was keen on strengthening partnership with the Kingdom and contributing to the achievement of stability in the Middle East.
The Japanese foreign minister noted that his country was focusing on three main goals, namely contributing to economic reforms in Saudi Arabia, strengthening cooperation in culture and sports by promoting the Japanese culture in the Kingdom and consolidating political dialogue to achieve stability in the Middle East.
Kishida stressed the need to find "a solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria and Yemen," adding that his country would actively engage in talks with the deputy crown prince to reach constructive means of cooperation in this regard.
He said Japan was also seeking to extend its cooperation with other Arab countries in order to promote the values of coexistence and common prosperity.
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Ahmed Al-Barrak stressed the importance of the deputy crown prince's visit in consolidating ties between the two countries. "The visit was of paramount importance due to the two countries' excellent relations and converging views on many regional and international issues."
The ambassador added that the visit contributed to closer cooperation between the two countries, based on mutual respect to promote true partnership, as outlined by the summit meetings between the leaders of the two countries.
The Kingdom and Japan have forged closer ties in different sectors and the royal visit has further strengthened these ties, Al-Barrak added.
© Arab News 2016
