JEDDAH, 5 July — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd received a message from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi yesterday. The message was handed to the king by visiting Japanese Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma during a reception at Al-Salam Palace.
Earlier Prince Sultan, the second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, discussed with Hiranuma ways of strengthening bilateral economic and commercial relations, official sources told Saudi Press Agency after the talks. Planning Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi attended the meeting.
The Japanese minister, who arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday night, met with Commerce Minister Osama Jaafar Faqeeh and discussed further expansion of mutual trade and investment.
Japan should step up investments in “projects involving a transfer of technology and the training of Saudis,” Faqeeh hold his Japanese counterpart during the talks.
Japan holds the second position among the Kingdom’s top 10 trading partners, in terms of volume of trade. In 1999, bilateral trade reached SR38.5 billion, with the balance heavily in favor of Saudi Arabia.
The year also recorded a total of 37 joint ventures between the two countries — 10 of them in industry and 27 in non-industry sectors, with a total capital investment of SR18.32 billion. The ventures had 52.98 percent Saudi and 46.52 percent Japanese investment.
A Japanese Consulate source said the minister arrived in the Kingdom on the first leg of a Gulf tour on Tuesday for talks with his country’s top oil suppliers. He will leave Riyadh this evening for the UAE before visiting Kuwait and Iran.
