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Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman is heading to Japan and could soon visit Pakistan, two reasonably rare official trips outside of our region.
Prince Mohammed will start a four-day official visit to Japan on Monday, 20 May, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Bin Salman will hold separate meetings with Emperor Naruhito and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. It will be the Crown Prince’s first visit to Tokyo since 2019.
In context: Saudi is Japan’s top supplier of crude oil and its eighth-largest trade partner, with some USD 42 bn in goods and services flowing between the two last year. The Public Investment Fund is also the largest shareholder of videogame maker Nintendo, Bloomberg points out.
AND- Arrangements are being “worked out” for the Crown Prince’s visit to Pakistan, Pakistan’s Geo News reported yesterday, citing officials in that country’s government. Plans for the visit were first made public by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar last week after the conclusion of a visit by a delegation of senior Saudi officials to Pakistan during which they attended a two-day investment conference. There had been rumblings that the visit could take place as early as this month, but officials have yet to confirm a date.
The visit could help help close a series of agreements important to Pakistan: Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Pakistan last month nearly a week after Pakistan’s prime minister discussed a USD 5 bn investment package during a meeting in Makkah with the Crown Prince. Saudi has been among key supporters of crisis-hit Pakistan, extending the term of a USD 3 bn in deposit at the State Bank of Pakistan for an additional year to mature in December 2024. This is in addition to USD 2 bn in financial assistance from the Kingdom last year to shore up the country’s finances.
