Saudi ambassador underscores potential benefits of Arab economic ties with Japan.

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Japan, Ghazi Faisal Binzagr, underscored the significance of the Japan-Arab Economic Forum in strengthening and expanding relations between the two countries beyond the traditional fields.

“We’re attending a very important conference that emphasizes the very important relationship between Japan and the Arab countries in general,” Binzagr told Arab News Japan. “And for me, as ambassador of Saudi Arabia, it also emphasizes the important relationship between Japan and the Kingdom.”

The 5th Japan-Arab Forum, a key platform for fostering economic ties, ended in Tokyo on Wednesday. The two-day forum aimed to facilitate Japanese companies’ expansion into Arab countries and strengthen Japan’s ties with them.

Binzagr described Japan’s energy relationship with Saudi Arabia as an important anchor, but noted that many countries are committed to transforming their energy sources from traditional to renewable.

“For that, a particular kind of partnership will be required,” he added. “The emphasis on partnership was essential to the meeting today. For Saudi Arabia, there is particular interest in partnerships that can co-create. What that means is a partnership that creates energy solutions that are cleaner, better, and safer for tomorrow and solutions that will care for the environment and increase prosperity.”

Binzagr said another angle is the important link between economics and development and the idea of creating strategic solutions, which are long-term, comprehensive plans, that translate to prosperity not only in the Middle East but also for Japan and its neighbors.

In addition, “it should include solutions that translate into a quality of life that impacts citizens everywhere,” he said.