Tokyo Trip

MBS is headed to Japan amid kingdom’s push for foreign investment

The trip is likely to build on the “Saudi-Japan Vision 2030” agreement that was forged in 2016

FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016 unveiling Vision 2030. (FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will travel to Japan later this month as the kingdom looks to boost foreign capital flows to fuel its vast Vision 2030 strategy.

The de facto leader will meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a trip from May 20 to May 23, the Japanese government said on Friday.

Japan is one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest buyers of crude oil and the kingdom was Japan’s eighth-biggest trading partner last year, according to the International Monetary Fund, totaling $42 billion. The Public Investment Fund is also one of the largest shareholders in Japanese gaming giant Nintendo Co., Bloomberg reported.

The trip is likely to build on the “Saudi-Japan Vision 2030” agreement that was forged on a trip MBS took to Tokyo in 2016. Under the pact, Japanese companies are to invest in industries such as agriculture, healthcare, energy and infrastructure in the kingdom.

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