Tokyo, Rajab 28, 1436, May 17, 2015, SPA -- Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Information and Technology Affairs and General Supervisor of the Saudi-Japanese Forum, said that observing the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Saudi-Japanese relations affirms the strength of relations between the two friendly countries and peoples. This came during a press conference Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid held at the headquarters of the Saudi Embassy in Japan on Sunday to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Japan, which falls on Monday, and the inauguration of the forum's website. Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid explained that the relationship between the Kingdom and Japan officially began in 1955 and featured numerous agreements and exchange of visits between the leaders of the two countries. Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid said that the kingdom, by representing the Islamic world and its civilization, and Japan, by representing the civilization and cultural depth of the East, are partners working together for dialogue of civilizations since 2001 in order to turn the tensions the world is witnessing at several levels to reconciliation not in words but by hard work and various cultural and social projects. Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid mentioned the announcement of the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud's initiative of civilization dialogue in 2008 at the 6th forum on civilization dialogue between Japan and the Islamic world in Riyadh. He also noted the kingdom's establishment and financing of the King Abdullah International Center for Dialogue among Followers of Religions and Civilizations in Vienna in 2011. Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid said, "What strengthens the relationship between the kingdom and Japan is the common between us as we both have provided a civilized, compromise model between tradition and modernization. The kingdom, with its Islamic civilization legacy, has maintained its Islamic identity in a world racing against time to modernize and change; Japan has been able to progress and pioneer in the industrial and technological areas while maintaining its cultural heritage and traditions." Prince Mohammed bin Saud bin Khalid asserted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is looking forward to development of Saudi-Japanese relations for the interest of the two governments and peoples at various levels especially with the availability of modern communication technologies. He pointed out that the areas of cooperation between the two countries are wide as Japan is one of the most important partners of Kingdom in the fields of energy, economic development, industrial diversity, information technology, trade, training and manpower development with partnership between the private and public sectors in many projects. --More 00:06 LOCAL TIME 21:06 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w