Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, in an interview with sister news outlet Arab News, voiced his belief in Tokyo needing to undertake a key pro-peace political role in the Middle East generally, and the Arab world in particular.
“We can play an honest broker in the Middle East, as we have no colonial history or negative footprint in the region,” Kono told Arab News’ Editor-in-Chief Faisal J.Abbas in Tokyo.
The senior diplomat also underscored that it was in his country’s best interest to establish and consolidate regional stability.
“Our energy depends on imports, mostly from the Gulf region. Forty percent of crude oil we import comes from Saudi Arabia and 80 percent of crude oil we import goes through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as 20 percent of our natural gas. So stability and peace in the Middle East are directly connected to our economy,” he said.
Reflecting Tokyo's awareness of dangers of the situation in the region, Kono’s remarks followed an attack last month which targeted a Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Tehran. While the United States was quick to blame Iran, Tokyo's official position was calm and reserved.
Addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict, Kono said: “Japan has been investing quite heavily in the West Bank. We have worked with Palestinians, Israelis and Jordanians to set up an industrial park near Jericho and it’s been going very well. Also, Japan set up a framework called the CEAPAD (Conference in Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development) to bring Southeast Asia to this peace process. We wanted to share how we develop the Asian economy and we want to share our experience with Palestinians and people in the region.”
When asked about the exceptional meeting that joined Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Prime Minister Abe on the sidelines of the G20 summit and the bilateral relations between Japan and Saudi Arabia, Kono reiterated his country’s support for the Kingdom Vision 2030 and highlighted anticipation for growing shared relations.
“Mainly we confirmed the progress of Japan and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The Japanese government and the Japanese private sector are determined to support His Royal Highness’s reform agenda in the Kingdom, and when His Majesty King Salman visited Japan in 2017 we agreed on this Japan-Saudi Arabia Vision 2030,” Kono said.
“Our relationship started out with Japan’s import of crude oil and export of automobiles, but we wanted to develop the relationship further, so it’s not limited to energy and industry, but this vision includes cultural exchange, entertainment and many other (aspects). “
Labelling the Saudi-Japanese relation as “diversified,” Kono noted that Abe and the Crown Prince had confirmed that much progress has been made.
“So we agreed on the next stage, Japan-Saudi Arabia vision 2030 version 2. I think we can go even deeper in our bilateral relationship,” he reaffirmed.
