Japan’s PM Kishida to Visit Middle East from Sunday

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar this month, from July 16 to 18, according to the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, according to Reuters.

During the past month, press reports dealt with news about the objectives of this visit, as it aims to secure stable oil supplies to Japan, as well as to strengthen economic relations with the Gulf states.

On June 14, the Japanese newspaper "Nikkei" mentioned that Japan and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to establish a dialogue between senior officials at a time when the country, which is the fourth largest oil importer in the world, is looking to enhance energy security.

Japanese official Kei Takagi met with OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais at the organization's headquarters in Vienna on June 13, where they discussed global energy supplies and demand forecasts and agreed to launch a permanent line of communication.

Japan, which is poor in energy resources, is working to add renewable resources to its consumption mix to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, but it still relies heavily on oil and liquefied natural gas imports, and OPEC producers are the largest oil suppliers to Japan.