Arab News Japan

Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia IWAI Fumio hosted a reception at his residence to celebrate the Commendation of Foreign Minister of Japan in honour of Altamrah Omar Rashid, a Saudi freelance interpreter, for his contribution to enhancing the bilateral relations between Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Altamrah studied at Waseda University in Japan under a program of Arabian Oil company and mastered Japanese language skills there.

After his return to Saudi Arabia, Altamrah worked for several Japanese entities as a freelance interpreter from 1990 to the present.

In his speech, Ambassador Iwai highlighted Altamrah’s significant contribution to the realization of projects of the governments and private companies both from Japan and the Kingdom, mentioning his service as an excellent interpreter for the visit of King Salman (then Governor of Riyadh) to Japan in 1998 and the visit of the former Prime Minister Abe to the Kingdom in 2013.

Iwai praised the solid trust Altamrah has earned from many Japanese private companies and government entities, backed by his more than 30 years of experience and his deep professional knowledge, and underscored that he has played a great role in promoting mutual trust and smooth negotiations between Japan and Saudi Arabia.

In his speech, Altamrah expressed his appreciation for the Commendation from Foreign Minister of Japan, and his commitment to further development of the bilateral relations.

On this occasion, Japanese Ambassador also overviewed the two countries’ trajectory of partnership under Japan-Saudi Vision 2030 and the recent high level diplomatic engagements between the two countries including Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to the Kingdom in July and then Foreign Minister Hayashi’s visit in September of this year, both of which gave momentum to further advance bilateral relations in many areas including energy, entertainment, healthcare, and tourism.

The ceremony was attended and witnessed by a number of businesspersons and representatives of the Japanese companies in Saudi Arabia.