Saudi-Japanese Technological Cooperation : Strategic Vision

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  • Bukhary Essam
    Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Waseda University:Manager of Culture & Media Division, Arabic Islamic Institute in Tokyo

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Other Title
  • サウジアラビアと日本の技術協力 : 戦略的ヴィジョン

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Abstract

This paper discusses the technological cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Japan which are linked by distinct relationships. While Saudi Arabia is the largest oil exporter to Japan, Japan has been Saudi Arabia's biggest source of technical assistance for years. Most of Japan's technological cooperation activities in Saudi Arabia have been Official Development Assistance(ODA)-based projects through Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA). However, as ODA-based Japanese technological cooperation projects in Saudi Arabia are planned to be stopped in 2011, new approaches for cooperation between the two countries in the stage of post-ODA are required. The budget, project numbers and types of JICA projects in Saudi Arabia and other 154 countries had been statistically analyzed. Moreover, interviews with experts as well as case study analysis of cooperation projects had been delivered. Findings show that Saudi Arabia does not have a high priority in JICA's policy in comparison to other countries in the Middle East and the world. On the other side, the new approaches for the stage of post ODA such as Japan Program, which is Oil Special Fund based, and academic cooperation programs between universities in the two countries had been also presented and future challenges of these programs were discussed. Finally, this paper suggests that technological cooperation to Saudi Arabia should not be recognized as assistance from Japan rather than an essential condition for building a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia. In other word, high level of technology transfer from Japan in exchange of providing a stable energy supply from Saudi Arabia.

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