Japan, Saudi Arabia Heighten Relations  

(MENAFN - Arab News) JEDDAH, 25 June 2007 — Japan's presence in Saudi Arabia widened with investments in various projects exceeding $13 billion between April 2000 and March 2006. The latest investment of $9.8 billion is the PETRORabigh project, an equal joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Company that is set to become operational next year.

Japanese Ambassador Shigeru Nakamura told Arab News in an interview on Saturday that about 30,000 workers are engaged in the PETRORabigh project, 250 of them Japanese.

Nakamura said Japan has been investing in desalination and electricity projects in southern part of the Kingdom, especially Jizan, which shows that "Japan not only excels in petrochemical projects but also in desalination projects.".

He noted that Japanese investment in the Kingdom "will further go up" as reflected by a Japanese firm's involvement in a consortium that has won bid for the North-South Railway Project.

Nakamura noted that Japan's investment activity in the Kingdom and the rest of the GCC countries had received a boost following Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in April.

By visiting the Kingdom and also certain other countries in the region, Abe opened a new chapter in Japan's bilateral relations, he added. The premier's visit was followed by the ninth round of Saudi-Japanese Joint Committee meeting in Riyadh that discussed bilateral relations not only on trade and investment, but also on education and culture.

Japan has long been dependent on the Kingdom and other countries in the region for oil and natural gas. "We rely on Saudi oil. Most of our oil comes from the Gulf, a sizable percentage of it from the Kingdom. That explains our interest in the Gulf," he said.

However, there is a huge gap in the balance of trade between the two countries. The bilateral trade volume in 2006 totaled $41.8 billion, with Japan importing $37.2 billion oil and exporting only $4.6 billion of goods, mainly automobiles and electrical appliances.

As part of its interest in Saudization, Nakamura said, there has been a continuous exchange of technical trainees from the Kingdom and of experts from Japan.

In addition to the successful operation of Saudi-Japanese Automobile High Institute on Makkah Road in Jeddah in which leading Japanese car manufacturers are involved, Japan is now finalizing plans for setting up a high institute of plastic fabrication in Riyadh.

"Japanese government has extended support to this private sector initiative which will open soon," the ambassador said.

Speaking about the exchange of students between the two countries, Nakamura said that150 Saudi students were now in Japan preparing themselves with an orientation in the Japanese language before entering universities and colleges. "In universities and colleges, the medium of instruction is English, but they need to know the Japanese language for leading their day-to-day life," he said.

Meanwhile, the industrial committee of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EPCCI) is organizing a meeting today in connection with the Saudi Aramco-Sumitomo Chemical Co. PETRORabigh venture in Rabigh. The meeting is being held at the EPCCI headquarters.

Salman ibn Mohamed Al-Jashi, member of the board of directors of the EPCCI and deputy chairman of the industrial committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the meeting is focused on the downstream plastic and other industries that would be established around PETRORabigh.