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Japan
and the Sultanate of Oman enjoy friendly relationship, thanks largely to
the active economic exchanges between two countries, as well as close
link between our Imperial and Royal families. The Embassy of Japan will
endeavor to strengthen this relationship further, not only in the
economic field, but also in such fields as security, environment,
culture and education, thereby creating a more multi-faceted bilateral
relationship.
The
mutual visits of high ranking officials between Japan and Oman
have been taking place actively in the recent years. In 1994, Their
Royal Highnesses Crown Prince and Princess visited Oman. In February 1997, at the invitation of the Government of Japan, H.H.
Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council
of Ministers visited Japan, followed by H.E. Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible
for Foreign Affairs in December 2003, and H.H. Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq
Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture in April 2008. Based upon the
Joint Announcement issued during the visit of H.H. Sayyid Haitham bin
Tariq Al Said, various joint cooperation projects in the fields of
culture and education are being implemented by Japan
and
Oman
.
In
July 2010, H.E. Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for
Foreign Affairs visited
Japan
within the framework of his private trip to Asia.
During
his visit, H.E. Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah had a consultation with
H.E. Mr.Koichi Takemasa, State Secretarie for Foreign Affairs to discuss
bilateral relations, safe passage of Strait of Hormuz, the
relations between Japan and GCC.
Besides, both the Ministries of Foreign Affairs have held political dialogues actively.
Furthermore, in October 2010, H.E. Sayyid
Hamood bin Faisal Al Busaidi, Minister of Environment and Climate
Affairs visited
Japan
to participate in the High Level Segment Meeting of the 10th Meeting
of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (COP10) in Nagoya. During the visit, H.E. Sayyid Hamood bin Faisal Al Busaidi met with
H.E. Naoto
Kan, Prime Minister. They discussed common interests between Japan and Oman
in environment fields.
Recently,
the Sultanate
has become an important supply base for the vessels of the Japan Maritime
Self Defense Force (JMSDF), which are engaged in
the anti-piracy operations off the Coast of Somalia
and in the Gulf of Aden. Through various interchange programs by the
MSDF Training Squadron which made port calls in 2009 and 2010 in a row,
the cooperation in the security fields between
Japan
and Oman
has been strengthened.
Moreover,
Oman
is strategically important for Japan
as territorial water of Oman
in the Strait of Hormuz
is used for international navigation. From this viewpoint, there is a
need for further enhancement of cooperation in security field between
Japan and Oman.
(renewal
in April 2011)
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