The relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Japan are of great importance and value for King Salman, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as their directives have always focused on the rapprochement and cooperation between the two countries.

This stems from the leadership’s recognition of the various capabilities both countries possess in order to serve our common interests and humanity as a whole.

This day constitutes an opportunity for us to express our sincerest congratulations to the Emperor of Japan, Emperor Naruhito, on the occasion of this anniversary, wishing him good health and happiness, and the government and people of friendly Japan, steady progress, and prosperity.

Saudi-Japanese relations have undoubtedly been developing and progressing in all fields since they were first established in 1955, before reaching the stage of the multi-level strategic partnership known as Saudi-Japan Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia and Japan are greatly counting on this cooperation to ensure the stability of energy supplies and the safety of maritime navigation.

The Kingdom also attaches special importance to cooperation with Japan in the fields of technology, oil refining, power plants, desalination plants, industry and investment promotion. In addition, the two countries have signed numerous bilateral partnerships at various levels.

The visits that King Salman and the Crown Prince have paid to Japan have significantly and rapidly developed the countries’ bilateral relations. During both visits, agreements were made to boost cooperation in several fields including security, expanding mutually beneficial partnerships, and promoting the partnership with Japan, which has advanced technologies that compete with most countries in the world.

At the regional level, Japan has a distinguished reputation, and the Kingdom looks forward to cooperating with Japan in order to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, which is considered an issue of common interest. Japan is also an important trading partner for the Kingdom.

To conclude, I would like to stress that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Japan, through the many challenges they have faced together, have proven, on all occasions, how deeply rooted and strong their relations are. We wish Japan further progress and prosperity.