Qatar-Japan joint higher economic committee

The 6th meeting of the Qatar-Japancommenced at the Japanese Foreign Ministry premises here on Tuesday . HE Qatar''s Deputy Premier and Chief of the Emiri Diwan Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah headed the Qatari side while Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano led the Japanese side. HE Al Attiyah made clear that such an annual meeting is a fundamental step in the cooperation process between Qatar and Japan noting that his visit falls within the framework of cementing bilateral relations ad enhancing them with the japanese government officials and the chiefs of the Japanese corporations . HE the Qatari Deputy Premier stressed however that HE Minister of Energy and Industry Mohamed Bin Saleh Al Sada will continue the role for upgrading and cementing bilateral relations especially in the energy and industry field. ''''His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Saleh Al-Sada is well familiar with the oil and gas sector in Qatar and with the importance of our relations with japan as he held a number of senior positions in Qatar petroleum and its group of companies. He also worked closely with me for four years in the capacity of Minister of State for Energy and Industry Affairs before his appointment to the present position in January this year. I have no doubt that Dr. Al Sada will continue to lend his full support and commitment to the work of the Qatar- japan Friendship Association'''', said HE al attiyah . The Qatari Deputy Premier and Chief of the Emiri Diwan also highlighted the role of Qatar for assisting their Japanese friends after the unprecedented tsunami catastrophe. ''''I would like also t take the opportunity to extend my gratitude to all of you present here fro your long-term care and support of the Qatar -japan relations. This gathering is a testimony to our shared desire to further strengthen friendship, cooperation and mutually beneficial bilateral relations between our two countries''''. ''''Our gathering this year comes only few months after the terrible earthquake that struck the North Eastern part of japan last March and which caused massive loss of lives and unprecedented destruction'''', said HE Abdullah Al Attiyah and referred to the 100 million US donation HE the emir offered Japan as a contribution to reconstructing and assisting the loss of lives and unprecendented destruction of the said catastrophe. HE Al Attiyah also highlighted the role of the Qatari companies working in Liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other hydrocarbonics production which supplied Japan with huge amounts of LNG , LPG and other petroleum derivatives to assist the Japanese energy corporations