Ashraf Siddiqui
Doha
Japan is keen to further strengthen relations with Qatar in diverse sectors, including new and renewable energies, culture, science and technology, national security, academic exchange, and human resource development, Japan’s Ambassador to Qatar HE Satoshi Maeda has said.
Addressing a press conference on the eve of the 63rd birthday celebrations of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito and National Day of Japan, the envoy said that strong relationship between the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as the long-lasting reliable cooperation in the LNG trade sector contributes to the strong bilateral relations between the two countries.
Japan, the envoy said, made a significant contribution to the creation of Qatar’s LNG export sector in the late 20th century as his country became the first importer of Qatar’s LNG in 1997.
Talking about last month’s visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to Japan to hold the Second Japan-Qatar Foreign Ministers Strategic Dialogue with his counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo, the Japanese envoy said he was fascinated to witness both the top diplomats discussing meaningfully on various sectors, including energy, investment, security, visa exemption agreement, and key regional issues in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
“HE Sheikh Mohammed also met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, which indicates the importance of Qatar to Japan,” he noted.
Praising Qatar’s efforts in various areas, he acknowledged that Qatar has consistently called for peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and made various mediation efforts towards the regional and international stability, including Afghanistan and Iran.
He admired Qatar’s hosting of forthcoming UN least developed Countries (LDC) Conference in Doha, describing it as one of the most important international conference to be hosted by Qatar.
“The UN Conference will be a great opportunity for Japan to share its valuable experiences of the development assistance (ODA) as Japan used to be the biggest donor in the world and helped economic development in the East and Southeast Asia through various infrastructure development and technical assistance,” he said.
Talking about bilateral trade relations, Ambassador Maeda said Japan-Qatar economic relations remain strong as Japan is Qatar’s fourth top destination in the world for export last year after China, India and South Korea.
Japan’s exports to Qatar in 2022 were around $1.23 billion compared to $0.76 billion in 2021, and Qatar’s exports to Japan in 2022 stood at around $13.05 billion compared to $9.57 billion in 2021.
He said Japan’s automobile exports to Qatar were 21,825 in 2022, while 34 Japanese companies are working in Qatar.
Maeda said Japan aims to continue its LNG cooperation with Qatar and expand cooperation into new energy fields, such as blue ammonia and hydrogen which are by-products of natural gas processing.
