RIYADH: King Salman was conferred with Japan’s Daisy High Medal by Japanese Emperor Akihito on Tuesday in appreciation of his role as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah. The Japanese emperor presented the medal to the Saudi king during a reception hosted in his honor at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, SPA reported. In his vote of thanks the king through an interpreter told the emperor that he is glad to meet him and visit Japan, to which he called his “second home.” Moreover, on the third day of the fourth leg of a seven-nation Asian tour, the king attended the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030 business forum aimed at strengthen bilateral ties.
The king was received at the forum by Minister of Economy and Planning Adel Fakeih and Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko. The forum, addressed by Chairman of the Japanese Business Federation Sadayuki Sakakibara, explored economic and investment cooperation between the Kingdom and Japan. Sakakibara stressed the importance of the Kingdom’s economic role for Japan and the keenness of the Japanese business sector toward the achievement of the strategic economic and developmental objectives of the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030 that aims to bolster bilateral cooperation.
At the end of the forum, a film on the history of economic relations between the Kingdom and Japan was shown. Also on Tuesday, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for cooperation in the areas of work and development of human resources. The MoU was signed on the sideline of the tour by Minister of Labor and Social Development Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghafis and Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Social Welfare Yasuhisa Shiozaki. The Ministry of Education also signed with its Japanese counterpart an executive program agreement for scientific cooperation. It was signed Salim bin Mohammed Al-Malik, adviser and general supervisor of General Department for International Cooperation, and Japanese Vice Minister Komatsu Shinjiro.
The Ministry of Health also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare that seeks to establish cooperation on health issues between the two countries. It was signed by Health Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabeeah and his Japanese counterpart Yasuhisa Shiozaki. Earlier, an MoU was signed by the National Industrial Cluster Development Program (NICDP) and the Toyota Motor Corporation for the feasibility study of an industrial project to produce vehicles and parts in the Kingdom. The study would take into account the evaluation of development of a local supply base using materials produced by major Saudi companies including SABIC, Maaden, Petro Rabigh. It further aims to enhance the development and attraction of a Saudi workforce and put in place the adequate training programs. Abdul Latif Jameel, as a local distributor for Toyota, will be also taking part in the joint feasibility study. Toyota remains the leader in Saudi and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) car markets with more than 500,000 units sold in GCC in 2016, according to SPA.
