Japan, Saudi Arabia sign mining and mineral resources cooperation agreement

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources said that Japan’s Minister of Industry Ken Saito signed with his Saudi counterpart a memorandum of cooperation between the two ministries in the field of mining and mineral resources.

This follows the establishment of the “Manar” Clean Energy Cooperation Initiative between the Kingdom and Japan during the meeting of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, and Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, on July 16 in Jeddah.

The Ministers also reviewed progress in the Manar Initiative, which includes cooperation in a number of key areas: hydrogen and ammonia, synthetic fuels, carbon circular economy and carbon recycling, vital minerals needed to support the energy sector, supply chains and enhance their resilience and recovery capacity, sustainable material development, and exchange of experiences, knowledge, and research results.

The parties stressed the need to support the stability of the global petroleum markets and achieve the sustainability and security of the global energy supply by promoting dialogue between producers and consumers, noting that the Kingdom is Japan’s largest exporter of petroleum supplies and Japan’s reliable partner in this aspect, according to Saudi News Agency.

The ministers also agreed to continue to strengthen bilateral relations, advance global efforts to achieve zero neutrality, and strengthen cooperation within the framework of the Manar Initiative.

The ministers also agreed on the importance of states’ adopting different paths, in line with each state’s national circumstances, to achieve zero neutrality while promoting energy security and economic growth.