Ambassador of Japan to the State of Qatar Kazuo Sunaga praised the advanced level of relations between his country and the State of Qatar, stressing that strong foundations have been laid for bilateral co-operation between the two countries in various fields, and not only in the economic field.
On the occasion of the celebrations of the National Day, the ambassador of Japan, in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), offered his sincere congratulations and blessings for His Highness the Amir, the government and people of the State of Qatar on the occasion, expressing happiness with the participation of the Qatari people to celebrate the precious occasion.
Sunaga expressed his admiration for the amazing development of the State of Qatar, saying: “Indeed, what Qatar has achieved in recent years is unprecedented and Qatar is now emerging as a global leader in the fields of energy, transportation, sports and culture, just to name a few. I believe that the future of Qatar is ever brighter, as Qatar is preparing for the further expansion of its economy and for the region’s first FIFA World Cup in 2022.”
He added: “Amazingly, Qatar has made all the achievements possible despite the adverse impact of the blockade. Rather Qatar transformed them into opportunities for further growth.”
Concerning the relation between the two countries, he said: “The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of our bilateral relations which have been characterised by a mutual trust and fruitful co-operation at all times. Economic exchanges have been the backbone of these relations for more than four decades, but thanks to the strong political will of the two countries, solid foundation for bilateral co-operation have been established in various fields not only in economy but also in the cultural, technical, scientific, defence and security fields.”
He added: “Visits at the level of the two countries’ leadership and senior officials have also contributed to the development and expansion of bilateral relations. The most notable one in recent years was His Highness the Amir’s visit to Japan in January of this year during which a number of MoUs were signed in different fields, in addition to the signing of a joint declaration on the establishment of a strategic dialogue mechanism between the governments of Qatar and Japan. He said: “In October, His Highness the Amir also visited Japan, for the second time this year, to attend the enthronement ceremony of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito, Emperor of Japan. Now the people of Japan feel Qatar much closer in their hearts.”
On the economic relations, he noted that the State of Qatar is the third largest supplier of LNG to Japan. At the same time, Japan is also the top trade partner of Qatar with a trade volume reaching $16bn in 2018 with a growth rate up to 23% from the 2017 trade volume which was $13.1bn.
The ambassador added that major Japanese companies are contributing to Qatar’s vital infrastructure projects such as Doha Metro, Hamad International Airport, etc.
At the end of his statement, he said: “Now the co-operation between Qatar and Japan is extending beyond energy and infrastructure projects to include co-operation in such promising projects as joint investment in power plants in third countries and the production of new types of clean energy, Human Genome Project (HGP) which aims to obtain more accurate and applicable medical treatment for all humans, the Golden Pass LNG project, the Es’hailSat satellite, a factory for growing vegetable without soil, Qatar University’s support for Islamic studies in Japan, and an experimental plant for industrial waste water desalination.
Kazuo Sunaga
