Press Releases
Japan-Saudi Arabia Foreign Ministers’ Telephone Talk
July 1, 2020
On July 1, commencing at around 6:00 p.m. for approximately 25 minutes, Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a telephone talk with H.H. Prince Faisal bin Farhan AL-SAUD, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The overview is as follows.
- At the outset, regarding measures to tackle the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Minister Motegi expressed his appreciation for Saudi Araba’s efforts to lead the international community, including by hosting the G20 Extraordinary Virtual Summit as the G20 Presidency. Minister Motegi also expressed his gratitude for the Government of Saudi Arabia’s cooperation for helping Japanese nationals living in Saudi Arabia to return to Japan. In addition, both ministers shared the view to continue to work together in relation to COVID-19 measures, including the protection of their respective citizens residing in each other’s countries.
- Minister Motegi stated that Saudi Arabia’s reforms towards overcoming dependency on oil and industrial diversification are becoming increasingly important amid the decline in crude oil prices and the COVID-19 outbreak, and that Japan’s stance of supporting those reforms through the public and private sectors remains unchanged. The two ministers also confirmed their intention to further strengthen bilateral relations through the framework of “Saudi Japan Vision 2030” and cooperation for the success of the G20 Riyadh Summit.
- The two ministers exchanged views on the Middle East situation and cooperation in international fora, and shared the view to continue to coordinate with each other.