TOKYO: Japan and Saudi Arabia held a bilateral business forum in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss further collaboration in energy and other industries, despite the absence of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

On Monday, the Saudi Crown Prince suddenly postponed his visit to Japan, which was scheduled for May 20-23, due to a health issue for King Salman. The Crown Prince had been scheduled to meet with Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

During the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 Business Forum, Japanese industry minister Ken Saito met Saudi delegates including energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, investment minister Khalid Al-Falih and Saudi companies.

Saudi crown prince postpones Japan trip citing king’s health, Tokyo says

“Saudi Arabia is Japan’s biggest supplier of crude oil and one of the most important partners in terms of energy security,” Saito told the forum.

In an effort to deepen their ties, over 30 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) were signed by the two sides on Tuesday ranging from energy to the financial sector and manufacturing.

Saudi Power Procurement Company said it had signed two power purchase agreements with a consortium led by Japanese trading house Marubeni to procure power from AlGhat wind project (600 MW) and Wa’ad Alshamal wind project (500MW).