Japan-Qatar Relations
Japan-Qatar Summit Meeting
(Pool Photo)
(Pool Photo)
On September 19, commencing at 11:10 a.m. (New York time) for approximately 25 minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a Japan-Qatar Summit Meeting with His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, at the Qatari Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN). The overview of the meeting is as follows.
1. Prime Minister Abe stated that he had been looking forward to meeting H.H. Sheikh Tamim again for the seventh time and for the first time in a year. He also expressed his gratitude for the condolences and the offer of support that Qatar extended at the time of the Kumamoto Earthquake in April this year. In addition, Prime Minister Abe welcomed Qatar’s recent decision to lift restrictions on importing Japanese food, which had been put in place after the Great East Japan Earthquake. He further stated that Japan attaches importance to Qataras a major LNG supplier and a stable actor in the region and that he hopes to continue working together to further advance the bilateral relationship in a broad range of fields relating to politics, the economy and culture.
2. In response, H.H. Sheikh Tamim expressed the view that Qatar has been building a solid economic and investment relationship with Japan thus far, and recently this has also been expanding to the field of politics. He then stated that he hopes to continue strengthening this strategic partnership with Japan in future as well.
3. Prime Minister Abe stated that Japan has decided to introduce multiple visas from October 3 for Qatarinationals holding an ordinary passport, and he hopes this will accelerate people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. H.H. Sheikh Tamim welcomed this decision.
4. Prime Minister Abe and H.H. Sheikh Tamim exchanged views on the situations in the Middle East.