TOKYO: The Sixth “Saudi-Japan Vision 2030” Ministerial Meeting was held in Tokyo on Tuesday under the auspices of the Saudi Ministry of Investment and the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
On the Japanese side, Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Yamada Kenji, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, participated in the meeting, with Nishimura making the opening speech.
On the Saudi side, Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, gave an opening address, and was joined at the meeting by the Saudi ambassador to Japan, Naif Al Fahadi.
The minister said that Saudi Arabia is “very keen on promoting and strengthening this strategic partnership with Japan as a reliable partner.”
Al-Falih said that the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 meeting came just before Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s state visit to Japan from Nov. 19-21.
The minister said that 89 of the initiatives from the vision are “being materialized, with some already completed.” He added that it was important to not only to ensure the quantity of these initiatives, but to also emphasize their quality.
Al-Falih said Saudi Arabia aims to be one of the world’s fifteen largest economies by the end of this decade. “The Saudi economy is already expanding at 10.2 percent in the first three quarters of 2022,” he explained. “That is the fastest growing rate among the G20 economies.”
“We now have over 40 industrial cities, already developed and many of them are hosting Japanese who are doing very well in the industrial sector,” he said. Al-Falih added that Japanese companies can invest in virtually all sectors of Saudi Arabia.
When it comes to space exploration, the Saudi minister said that the Kingdom has developed a new space strategy to join the “top ten space nations by 2030 and become a global space champion.”
“We will prioritize commercial returns from our space program, and bolster your competitiveness and increase our share of the space market and we would love to see the Japanese aerospace exploration agency JAXA participate in our space program,” he added.
Al-Falih told the audience at the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 meeting that Saudi Arabia plans to significantly increase gas production capacity including producing and exporting LPG, which is key to the Japanese economy.
“We are investing here in Japan with Showa Shell initially, now with Idemitsu, But we will also invest in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Blue and green hydrogen are also important for Saudi Arabia’s agenda, Al-Falih said. “Blue and green hydrogen are being invested in in Saudi Arabia at a scale nobody else is doing, and we started the discussion with our Japanese counterparts more than ten years ago.”
Al-Falih said he signed an MOU when he was last in Japan and helped join forces with the Japanese led hydrogen council to signify and ARAMCO.
“In NEOM, the world’s largest hydrogen project is being built and ARAMCO is investing to produce 11 million ton of blue hydrogen that is being done in coordination and consultation with Japanese companies,” he explained.
Al-Falih congratulated Japan on its progress made for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, adding that Saudi Arabia is actively working on hosting Expo 2030 in Riyadh.
Nishimura, who is also chairman of the Japan-Saudi Parliamentary Friendship League, welcomed the Saudi delegation and emphasized the importance of the two countries’ relationship.
“For Japan, which imports approximately 40 percent of its crude oil from Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is the most important partner in terms of energy security,” he said in his opening remarks. “I would like to once again express my gratitude for the stable supply of crude oil over the long term. I also expect Saudi Arabia to take a leadership role in stabilizing the international crude oil market as the situation in Ukraine makes the global energy supply and demand uncertain.”
“In addition, the socio-economic reforms and mega-projects promoted by Saudi Arabia’s leadership have become even more important as new growth drivers for the Middle East and for realizing the global trend toward carbon neutrality. Japan will contribute to the economic and social reforms of Saudi Arabia through the Japan-Saudi Vision. Together with the people of Saudi Arabia, we will further accelerate and further expand our efforts.”
Nishimura explained that since the Fifth Ministerial Meeting two years ago, “steady progress” has been made. He went through some of the representative initiatives which included cooperation in the field of clean energy.
“[Clean energy] is important for the oil-free reform that Saudi Arabia is aiming for. Last month, JOGMEC and Saudi Aramco signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement in the field of hydrogen and ammonia. We will accelerate cooperation toward the realization of a sustainable society,” he said.
Nishimura added that demand for housing construction is “strong in Saudi Arabia.”
“A Japanese building materials company has started a project to manufacture and supply houses in Saudi Arabia using a concrete 3D printer in cooperation with a Saudi conglomerate,” he said.
The Japanese minister said they are proceeding with a plan to establish an R&D center in Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture, to accept and train around 100 Saudi engineers annually. He added that they will “contribute to the realization of a digital society with Japanese technology in specific fields such as construction.”
Another representative initiative includes cooperation in new fields that capture the social reforms of Saudi Arabia.
In the entertainment field, e-sports competitions between the two countries were held in both Japan and Saudi Arabia. Also, at the 2nd Saudi Anime Expo held in Riyadh last month, many Saudi and Japanese cosplayers dressed as Japanese anime characters such as ‘Dragon Ball’ and ‘Kimetsu no Yaiba’.
“It is a great pleasure that Japan’s content industry is contributing to economic and social reform, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will continue to support this field,” he said.
“Finally, I would like to express my respect for the leadership of everyone in attendance and the efforts of all the organizations involved in supporting the project, ‘Shukran Jazeelan‘ (thank you very much)” Nishimura concluded by thanking his guests in Arabic.
The event was concluded by Minister Nishimura’s closing remarks, whereupon the delegations moved to another room for signing of agreements and the exchange of gifts.
Sixth ‘Saudi-Japan Vision 2030’ Ministerial Meeting takes place in Tokyo
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Sixth ‘Saudi-Japan Vision 2030’ Ministerial Meeting takes place in Tokyo
- Saudi Arabia is “very keen on promoting and strengthening this strategic partnership with Japan as a reliable partner,” said Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment
- He congratulated Japan on its progress made for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, adding that Saudi Arabia is actively working on hosting Expo 2030 in Riyadh
Asian countries mark 20 years since the world’s deadliest tsunami
- Indonesia launched its early tsunami warning system in the aftermath of the 2004 disasters
- Its westernmost Aceh province was the hardest-hit, with some 170,000 people killed
JAKARTA: Herman Wiharta began that Sunday morning like many 11-year-olds would on a weekend: watching cartoon shows on TV.
But at around 8 a.m., he felt the powerful tremors from a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, which then triggered the tsunami that inundated the coastline of more than a dozen countries and killed some 230,000 people.
Wiharta, now 31, recalled his brother calling out to him to leave their house in Banda Aceh minutes after the quake and how they had attempted to run to safety. He remembered hearing people scream about the rising sea water before he himself was swept away by a giant wave.
“I lost consciousness when the wave hit me and I woke up on a roof, confused. Thankfully, my brother and sister were also on that roof,” he told Arab News.
“We were able to see just how black the water was from that spot, how strong the currents were. The water was about 4 to 5 meters high; cars and motorbikes were floating, and I could see bodies being swept away by the currents, too. It was terrifying.”
The tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 quickly escalated into a global disaster, with some 1.7 million displaced.
The brunt of the tsunami was felt in Indonesia, where almost 170,000 people perished. The country’s westernmost province of Aceh was the hardest-hit of all, while Sri Lanka, India and Thailand were among the worst-affected countries.
“It was impossible to sleep that night. We could still hear people screaming for help and the dogs were howling. Everything was just so eerie. The disasters happened so quickly, but they were deeply traumatizing,” Wiharta said.
“It was even worse the day after. We could see bloated human and animal corpses, and the smell was just terrible. I can still picture that scene in my mind to this day.”
Across Asia on Thursday, people attended ceremonies and memorials held to mark 20 years since the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
Coastal communities were united in grief as they also commemorated how far they had come after two decades of rebuilding and regrouping.
In Sri Lanka, where more than 35,000 people were killed, survivors and relatives gathered in the coastal village of Peraliya to remember the 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.
In Thailand, where half of the death toll of 5,000 were foreign tourists, commemorations were held in Ban Nam Khem, the country’s worst-hit village. People laid flowers and wreaths at a wall curved in the shape of a tsunami, which also bears plaques with the names of the victims.
In India, where around 20,000 people perished, women led the rituals held at Pattinapakkam beach in Chennai, where they lit candles and offered flowers for the victims.
In Banda Aceh city, an official ceremony held at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque began with a three-minute-long siren at the exact time the major earthquake caused giant waves. People also gathered for prayers at the city’s mass graves — Ulee Lheue and Siron — where thousands of unidentified and unclaimed tsunami victims are buried.
In the years since, infrastructure across Aceh has been rebuilt and is now stronger to withstand major disasters. Early warning systems have also been set up in areas closer to shores, to warn residents of a potential tsunami.
Indonesia’s early tsunami warning system was launched only in 2008 in the aftermath of the disasters, said Daryono, the head of the earthquake and tsunami center at Indonesia’s meteorology, climatology and geophysical agency.
“Before the 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami … there were too many people who did not understand the threat, or the danger and risks of a tsunami,” Daryono told Arab News.
“But what happened in 2004 became a starting point to raise awareness on earthquake and tsunami mitigation and also to develop high-tech monitoring for earthquakes and early tsunami warning systems.”
Yet Aceh resident Wiharta was concerned with the direction of development in the province, particularly on the beaches of Aceh Besar district where many new cafes have been popping up in recent years.
“It’s important not to cut down the trees for the sake of building these cafes. It’s better to plant more trees, especially mangroves, so that they can help defend against potential tsunamis,” he said.
“I think the early warning systems also need to be fixed or reset to make sure that they are properly working for early evacuations, since many are either broken or stolen.”
Record number of migrants lost at sea bound for Spain in 2024: NGO
- The vast majority of the fatalities — 9,757 — took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands
MADRID: At least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, an NGO said Thursday, more than 50 percent more than last year and the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007.
The 58-percent increase includes 1,538 children and 421 women, migrants rights group Caminando Fronteras or Walking Borders said in a report which covers the period from January 1 to December 5, 2024.
It amounts to an average of 30 deaths per day, up from around 18 in 2023.
The group compiles its data from hotlines set up for migrants on vessels in trouble to call for help, families of migrants who went missing and from official rescue statistics.
It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as the insufficient capacity of maritime rescue services for the surge in deaths.
“These figures are evidence of a profound failure of rescue and protection systems. More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy,” the group’s founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement.
The victims were from 28 nations, mostly in Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan.
The vast majority of the fatalities — 9,757 — took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, which has received a record number of migrants for the second year in a row.
Seven migrant boats landed in the archipelago on Wednesday, Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said on social media site X.
At their closest point, the Canaries lie 100 kilometers (62 miles) off the coast of North Africa. The shortest route is between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries.
But the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands is particularly dangerous because of strong currents.
Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three major European gateways for migrant arrivals.
According to the interior ministry, 60,216 migrants entered Spain irregularly between January 1 and December 15 — a 14.5 percent increase over the same time last year.
The majority, over 70 percent, landed in the Canaries.
Pope Francis opens special ‘Holy Door’ for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison
- Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday
- A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon
ROME: Pope Francis made a visit on Thursday to one of the largest prison complexes in Italy, opening a special “Holy Door” for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, in what the Vatican said was the first such action by a Catholic pontiff.
Speaking to hundreds of inmates, guards and staff at the Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, Francis said he wanted to open the door, part of the prison chapel, and one of only five that will be open during the Holy Year, to show that “hope does not disappoint.”
“In bad moments, we can all think that everything is over,” said the pontiff. “Do not lose hope. This is the message I wanted to give you. Do not lose hope.”
Francis opened the Catholic Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, on Tuesday. A Catholic Jubilee is considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. This Jubilee, dedicated to the theme of hope, will run through Jan. 6, 2026.
Holy Years normally occur every 25 years, and usually involve the opening in Rome of four special “Holy Doors,” which symbolize the door of salvation for Catholics. The doors, located at the papal basilicas in Rome, are only open during Jubilee years.
The Vatican said the opening of the “Holy Door” at Rome’s Rebibbia prison was the first time such a door had been opened by a pope at a prison since the start of the Jubilee year tradition by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300.
Francis has shown special attention for the incarcerated over his 11-year papacy. He often visits prisons in Rome and on his foreign trips.
China urges Philippines to return to ‘peaceful development’
- The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year
BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry on Thursday urged the Philippines to return to “peaceful development,” saying Manila’s decision to deploy a US medium-range missile system in military exercises would only bring the risks of an arms race in the region.
The US Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said the Typhon’s deployment for joint exercises was “legitimate, legal and beyond reproach.” Army chief Roy Galido said on Monday that the Philippines was also planning to acquire its own mid-range missile system.
Rivalry between China and the Philippines has grown in recent years over their competing claims in the South China Sea. Longtime treaty allies Manila and Washington have also deepened military ties, further ratcheting up tensions.
“By cooperating with the United States in the introduction of Typhon, the Philippine side has surrendered its own security and national defense to others and introduced the risk of geopolitical confrontation and an arms race in the region, posing a substantial threat to regional peace and security,” said Mao Ning, a spokesperson at China’s foreign ministry.
“We once again advise the Philippine side that the only correct choice for safeguarding its security is to adhere to strategic autonomy, good neighborliness and peaceful development,” Mao told reporters at a regular press conference.
China will never sit idly by if its security interests were threatened, she added.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which is also claimed by several Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines.
Russia says it foils Ukrainian plots to kill senior officers with disguised bombs
- The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services
MOSCOW: Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Thursday it had foiled several plots by Ukrainian intelligence services to kill high-ranking Russian officers and their families in Moscow using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders.
On Dec. 17, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service killed Lt. Gen. Kirillov, chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, in Moscow outside his apartment building by detonating a bomb attached to an electric scooter.
An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit. Russia said the killing was a terrorist attack by Ukraine, with which it has been at war since February 2022, and vowed revenge.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has prevented a series of assassination attempts on high-ranking military personnel of the Defense Ministry,” the FSB said.
“Four Russian citizens involved in the preparation of these attacks have been detained,” it said in a statement.
Ukraine’s SBU did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that the Russian citizens had been recruited by the Ukrainian intelligence services.
One of the men retrieved a bomb disguised as a portable charger in Moscow that was to be attached with magnets to the car of one of the Defense Ministry’s top officials, the FSB said.
Another Russian man was tasked with reconnaissance of senior Russian defense officials, it said, with one plot involving the delivery of a bomb disguised as a document folder.
“An explosive device disguised as a portable charger (power bank), with magnets attached, had to be placed under the official car of one of the senior leaders of the Russian Defense Ministry,” it said.
The exact date of the planned attacks was unclear though one of the suspects said he had retrieved a bomb on Dec. 23, according to the FSB.
Russian state TV showed what it said was footage of some of the suspects who admitted to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence for bombings against Russian defense ministry officials.
Moscow holds Ukraine responsible for a string of high-profile assassinations on its soil designed to weaken morale — and says the West is supporting a “terrorist regime” in Kyiv.
Ukraine, which says Russia’s war against it poses an existential threat to the Ukrainian state, has made clear it regards such targeted killings as a legitimate tool.
Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist, was killed in August 2022 near Moscow. The New York Times reported that
US intelligence agencies
believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the killing.
US officials later admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination, the Times said. Ukraine denied it killed Dugina.
