Arab News Japan

RIYADH: “Our relationship has entered a much higher phase,” said Dr. Shigeto Kondo, Senior Researcher at Japan’s Institute of Energy Economics, as scholars spoke at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS) panel to mark the 70th anniversary of Saudi–Japanese diplomatic relations.

Moderated by Dr. Mansour Al-Marzoqi, Head of the Political and Security Program at KFCRIS, the session Sunday outlined the partnership’s journey from energy security in the 1970s to a diversified strategy designed for its next decade.

During the session, Kondo recalled early people-to-people links before formal relations were established in June 1955, then the deepening of ties after the 1973 oil shock and a series of high-level visits, among them King Faisal’s 1971 trip to Tokyo and subsequent exchanges by Japanese prime ministers and members of the Imperial Family.

While energy bound the countries together, he argued that the relationship has changed, pointing to the 2023 launch of a foreign-ministerial strategic dialogue and the Strategic Partnership Council created in 2024 as “transformational” steps in the two countries’ long-term cooperation.

He said the agenda now stretches from hydrogen and ammonia to culture and regular consultations on regional and international affairs, adding that recent Japanese leaders, particularly the late ABE Shinzo, helped Tokyo recognize Riyadh’s “increasingly significant” global presence.

Al-Marzoqi asked Kondo about reports of US objections to Saudi participation in a next-generation fighter program and what that implies for advanced Saudi–Japan cooperation.

Kondo stressed he had not deeply researched the specific case but acknowledged that both possible American influence and Japanese domestic opinion, especially concerns that more partners could slow delivery, shaped the debate.

His own assessment though showed that deeper strategic and even defense-industry cooperation with the Kingdom “would benefit Japan.”

He also observed that Japanese visitors, particularly younger travelers, are returning from Saudi Arabia with improved impressions of the business climate and society. He said the demographic contrast between a youthful Saudi Arabia and an aging Japan is a complementary advantage that could power joint innovation.

Building on Kondo’s speech, international relations consultant Dr. Khaled Al-Rashoud argued that 2016 was the turning point that changed the two countries’ relationship.

The launch of Vision 2030 and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Japan, he said, aligned two imperatives: Saudi diversification and Japan’s push to externalize technological growth amid demographic headwinds.

He described a partnership now coursing into clean energy, technology and AI, entertainment and creative industries, and said more than 50 memoranda of understanding signed in recent years under the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 umbrella have accelerated tangible projects.

Saudi Arabia’s prominent pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, he added, has already helped broaden Japanese audiences’ exposure to the Kingdom’s culture and reforms.

Al-Rashoud said, however, that Japanese investor perceptions of Saudi Arabia can sometimes blur due to the broader regional risks, especially when it comes to conflicts in the Middle East.

To dislodge that, he proposed targeted measures tailored to Japanese strengths: specialized economic zones for high-tech manufacturing, joint ventures in desalination and water-recycling technologies, and scaled human-capital programs to embed long-term industrial partnerships.

He also emphasized that Riyadh and Tokyo are broadly aligned on key foreign-policy files, from support for a two-state solution to approaches on Sudan.

By the session’s close, Kondo’s core claim that the relationship has “entered a much higher phase,” was echoed by Al-Rashoud’s case that 2016 realigned the partnership for a post-oil world.