Press Releases

1. On October 3, from 17:40 for approximately 40 minutes, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar.

2. Foreign Minister Kishida started the meeting with congratulating Sheikh Mohammed on his appointment as Foreign Minister, saying that he wishes to cooperate closely with Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed in order to further strengthen the bilateral relationship. In response, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed stated that Japan is a strategic partner for Qatar and that he would like to cooperate in various fields including cooperation of small and medium-sized enterprises between the two countries, in addition to the energy sector.

3. Foreign Minister Kishida stated that the Government of Japan has introduced on the date of the meeting multiple entry visas for short-term stay for Qatari nationals holding ordinary passports and that Japan and Qatar would introduce shortly diplomatic and official visa exemption arrangements for diplomatic and official/special passport holders. He expressed his hope that those measures would further enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed welcomed these steps.

4. The two foreign ministers exchanged their views on the situations in East Asia and in the Middle East.