JEDDAH: The 17th Saudi-Japanese Business Council Forum started on Monday in Tokyo, bringing together businessmen from both countries to discuss cooperation in health, technology and education, as well as investment between the private and public sector. The first session of the event — which is organized by the Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East, the Council of Saudi Chambers, and the Saudi Embassy in Japan — was led by the co-chairs of the joint council, Tariq Al-Qahtani and Hiroshi Saito. Saito said that the governments of the two nations have been working together to achieve the objectives of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, and are cooperating in a number of fields including information technology and small businesses. Al-Qahtani said that the Council of Saudi Chambers and the business sector in the Kingdom is working to achieve the mission of the joint council in terms of promoting trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries. He added out that Saudi-Japanese relations have undergone important developments recently in a number of economic fields, the most important of which was the establishment of the business council. It has already significantly contributed to the development of bilateral economic relations by helping to enhance investment and trade between the two countries and guide them towards building a strategic relationship that focuses on the economy by diversifying and increasing trade, deepening communication and mutual cooperation channels, and intensifying joint investments in transfer technology and Japanese discoveries. Al-Qahtani said that the value of trade between Saudi Arabia and Japan reached about $32 billion last year. He added that the role of the business council is to increase the Japanese activity in the Kingdom in the fields of education and technology training, and extend cooperation between the countries in the fields of small and medium enterprises. He urged the Japanese to seize the investment opportunities available in Saudi Arabia, in particular projects in the agriculture, health, oil and gas, mining, power-generation and industrial sectors. Mohammed bin Fuad Justaniah, the charge d’affaires of the Saudi Embassy in Japan, said that the embassy is making every effort to serve the common interests of the two countries and achieve the objectives of the forum, in a bid to strengthen economic relations.