Riyadh: Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), received Takeshi Iwaya, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, at the General Secretariat headquarters in Riyadh. The meeting focused on enhancing Gulf-Japanese relations across various domains with a particular emphasis on economic areas, promoting trade cooperation, and increasing the volume of exchange to meet common aspirations in advancing economic relations.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the discussion reviewed the first round of negotiations on the free trade agreement between the GCC and Japan, which took place in December 2024. Albudaiwi underscored that preparations for the second round of negotiations, scheduled to be held in Tokyo at the end of June, were also reviewed. He emphasized the importance the GCC countries place on this agreement due to the strong relations between the two sides.