Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will try to deepen cooperation in the energy sector during his trip to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar later this month, government sources said Thursday.
Kishida aims to ensure a stable energy supply from the oil-rich nations while seeking to pitch resource-poor Japan's hydrogen and other eco-friendly technologies, they said.
His trip will be the first by a leader of Japan to the Middle East since January 2020. Executives of dozens of Japanese firms are set to accompany Kishida in a bid to boost the country's economic influence in the region, apparently with China in mind.
Kishida said late last month that he will visit the three nations for four days from July 16, pledging to enhance "resource diplomacy" with them and contribute to their carbon neutrality efforts by leveraging Japan's technologies.
He is expected to hold summits with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
With global energy prices on an upward trend worldwide since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kishida is likely to ask the leaders to ensure stable exports of crude oil and natural gas to Japan, the sources said.
Japan relies on imports for more than 90 percent of its energy needs and has maintained friendly relations with Middle Eastern countries.
Saudi Arabia and UAE, meanwhile, have been attempting to reduce their oil dependency and diversify their economies given that crude oil prices may fall in the future amid decarbonization efforts worldwide.
Kishida canceled a trip to the three countries in summer last year after being infected with the novel coronavirus.
