5.Ambassador's Office
(2)Greetings
(b) Issues
to be tackled toward 2010
Next
year, or 2010, will be a commemorative year celebrating the 40th anniversary of
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said's accession to the throne, with great
commemorative events taking place at around November 18, His Majesty's birthday
and the National Day. For my part, I have started to plan on various events with
great significance throughout the year so that Japan
too can celebrate the commemorative year together with the people of Oman.
I
think it is important for
Japan
and
Oman
to promote exchanges and deepen cooperative relations in the areas of politics
and security in tandem with Oman's economic development. As you can see by looking at a map,
Oman
has good natural seaports outside the Straits of Hormuz, an area in which
international sea lanes pass through Oman's territorial waters. Maintaining good trust relations with Oman
has thus become an important matter from the perspective of securing a sea
route for Japanese vessels passing through this region. The importance of
Oman
as port of call and emergency evacuation sites only keeps increasing in light
of the participation of the vessels of the
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in replenishment support activities in the Indian
Ocean and also in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia
with the planned flight of P-3C patrol aircrafts.
The
Embassy assumes an important role as a mediator in ensuring that Japanese
companies' know-how and technologies bring benefit to Oman. Last year, the
phenomenon of red tides hit Oman, causing serious problems. I will keep studying the possibilities for
contributions from Japan that are harmonious with Oman's energy and
environmental policies, such as the provision of solar-energy driven equipment
to cope with red tides and for water desalination and power generation.
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