Minister of Commerce Osama Faqih met today in Tokyo with the Japanese foreign minister to review bilateral relations and the outcome of last October's visit to Japan by Crown Prince Abdulalh Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard. Speaking on the occasion, Minister Faqih reiterated the Kingdom's concern to enhance its economic relations with Japan, which is its second largest commercial partner. In 1997, the volume of trade between Saudi Arabia and Japan amounted to SR 46.5 billion (U.S. $ 12.4 billion), including SR 39 billion (U.S. $ 10.4 billion) in Saudi exports. There are 33 joint Saudi-Japanese projects in the Kingdom, with invested capital of SR 17.6 billion (U.S. $ 4.7 billion).

Minister Faqih arrived in Tokyo yesterday as leader of a Saudi delegation assigned to follow up procedures pertaining to the Kingdom's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO). He met yesterday afternoon with the Japanese minister of international trade and industry and reviewed with him aspects of economic relations between the two countries.

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