Ambassador of Japan to Qatar H E Satoshi Maeda delivering his speech at the event.
Doha: Bilateral relations between Qatar and Japan have evolved from traditional trade and energy ties to a strategic partnership encompassing a wide range of areas including security cooperation.
“The relationship between Japan and Qatar was elevated to a strategic partnership when the Japanese Prime Minister visited Qatar last year. Now our focus has gone beyond the LNG towards a comprehensive policy aiming to strengthen ties in a wider range of areas. Security cooperation indeed is one of the important pillars of this policy, and it is becoming more and more active, these days,” said the outgoing Ambassador of Japan to Qatar H E Satoshi Maeda.
He was addressing a reception to celebrate Japan Self-Defence Forces (SDF) Day held in Doha on Monday. The event also served as a farewell to the ambassador, who is completing his three-year tenure in Doha.
The event was attended by Brigadier General Mohamed Salmeen Al Jabri from the Amiri Navy; Brigadier General Ahmed Mohamed Al Dahi, from the Amiri Signal Corps; Japan’s Defence Attache Colonel Tatsukawa; and a number of diplomats and Qatari officials.
This is the first SDF Day reception to be held in Qatar, since Colonel Tatsukawa was posted to Qatar last year as the country’s first resident Defense Attaché.
Qatar and Japan also held their first defence ministerial meeting on the sidelines of Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore in June 2024, where the two sides had a very constructive discussion on various matters regarding security issues of mutual concern for both nations, the ambassador said. Japanese destroyer Murasame also visited Doha port as a goodwill gesture earlier this month. “I believe that this port visit represents a symbolic milestone on the path of bilateral cooperation between both countries and that the anticipated opportunities of further progress in cooperation in such significant scope are very promising,” the ambassador remarked. Reflecting on his time in Doha, the envoy said, “I really enjoyed my job and life in Qatar and am very happy and honored to be the Ambassador of Japan in Qatar.”
Colonel Tatsukawa said since 2010, defence cooperation and exchange between Japan and Qatar has been centred on Arabic language training by the language institute of Qatar Armed Forces and short-term international students’ programmes by the Ahmed Bin Mohammed Military College.
This year’s three international students from Japan were also present at the reception.
