Japan PM’s Middle East tour
Ohmynews 2007-05-05
Japan PM’s Middle East Tour
[Analysis] China, India and South Korea got a head start over Japan in Mideast diplomacy
Hisane Masaki
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a five-nation tour of the oil-rich Middle East to strengthen the resource-poor nation’s relations with the region and ensure its energy security through stable supplies of oil and other resources.
After traveling to the United States for talks with President George W. Bush, Abe flew on to the Middle East, where he visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt. The trips to the U.S. and the Middle East were both his first since assuming office last September. Abe returned to Tokyo on Thursday.
Abe agreed with leaders of the five Middle East nations to strengthen bilateral relations with Japan on a wide range of areas, including politics, culture and environment as well as energy, trade and investment. At a business forum in Riyadh, Abe stressed his determination to build a "multi-layered" relationship between Japan and Saudi Arabia, going beyond the "oil-based" one.
Abe’s visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt were the first by a Japanese premier in four years. His visit to the UAE and Qatar were the first by a top Japanese leader in 29 years. His visit to Kuwait was the first ever by a Japanese prime minister.
Japan imports almost all of its oil, and is the world’s third-largest oil consumer after the U.S. and China. Japan relies on the Middle East for nearly 90 percent of its oil. The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain - alone supply about 75 percent of Japan’s oil.
Japan has recently revved up its diplomatic drive for oil, gas and other energy resources abroad in a bid to ensure national energy security amid stubbornly high oil prices and also in response to the increasingly intensifying global rush for oil, gas and other resources, led by China and India.
Chinese President Hu Jintao had already visited Saudi Arabia in April last year. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also invited Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to Delhi in January last year, the first trip to India by a Saudi king in 51 years.
Japan has recently begun to place priority on concluding free-trade agreements (FTAs) with resource-rich countries as a foreign-policy tool to beef up relations with them and thereby ensure its energy security through stable, long-term supplies. Japan launched FTA negotiations with the GCC last September, but later than China and India did so.
South Korea also got a head start over Japan in implementing its top-level diplomacy toward the Middle East. President Roh Moo-hyun made a tour of three GCC member nations — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar — in late March, accompanied by an economic delegation of about 200 people. During the tour, Roh said his country will open FTA negotiations with the GCC as early as this year. The GCC is a customs union whose member nations apply the same tariff rates in trade with third parties.
In their talks with Abe, the GCC leaders pledged regular oil supplies to Japan. Abe and leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar also agreed to seek a successful conclusion of FTA negotiations between Japan and the six-nation GCC at the earliest possible date. Japan and the GCC have so far held two rounds of FTA negotiations. Tokyo wants the proposed FTA to contain the GCC’s pledge to ensure stable energy supplies to Japan.
In Riyadh, Abe proposed to King Abdullah to let Japan’s largest oil supplier use part of the state-owned oil-storage tanks in the southernmost Japanese prefecture of Okinawa in exchange for a preferential right to purchase the oil reserves there in case of emergency. Abdullah agreed that Saudi Arabia will examine the plan through ministerial-level and working-level talks.
The oil-storage plan is designed to deepen Japan’s interdependent relationship with Saudi Arabia and ensure stable oil supplies. Saudi Arabia, as well as Japan, is expected to benefit from the proposed Saudi use of Japanese storage tanks, which would enable the Arab kingdom to set a new commercial foothold in Asia. At present, Tokyo has stockpiles of about 5.25 million kiloliters of oil — an amount equivalent to 10 days of the nation’s consumption - at the oil-storage facilities on Okinawa prefecture’s Henza Island.
The Japanese and Saudi leaders issued a joint statement in which the two countries agree to strengthen high-level political dialogue, including between their foreign ministers. The joint statement spelled out the creation of a joint task force comprising representatives from the two governments and private sectors to expand investment, particularly in the fields of automobiles, electronics and construction materials. Both sides also emphasized the importance of an early conclusion of negotiations on liberalization, promotion and protection of investments between the two countries.
In Abu Dhabi, Abe met with UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The two agreed to launch a ministerial "Japan-UAE Joint Economic Committee" to promote bilateral economic relations, particularly in the investment, business environment and energy fields. The UAE is Japan’s second-largest oil supplier.
Kuwaiti leaders expressed to Abe their desire to start negotiations on promotion and mutual protection of investments between the two countries.
In Doha, Abe and Qatari leaders agreed to launch preparatory talks for negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty. Qatar is Japan’s fourth-biggest oil supplier, after Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran. Qatar is also Japan’s fourth-largest LNG supplier after Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia.
Flush with oil money amid high prices for the fuel, the economies of oil-producing countries in the Middle East are booming. Japan’s exports of steel and general machinery to those countries are on the rise, reflecting strong capital investments there. While Japanese energy companies want to secure stable supplies from the region, other companies, including financial institutions, are eager to cash in on the booming economies and oil money.
For their part, the GCC nations want to see a further inflow of Japanese investment and cutting-edge technology, not only into the oil sector but also in a wide range of other sectors, especially manufacturing, to help them reduce their heavy dependence on oil and increase employment opportunities for the swelling population.
Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based journalist, commentator and scholar on international politics and economy. This is an abbreviated part of an article that originally appeared on Asia Times.
