Japan and Syrian, Middle East economic relations
In a collaboration seminar with the Syrian economic sciences association and the Japanese embassy in Damascus, the Japanese ambassador to Syria, T. Kagami, on October 13 spoke about "Economic development of Japan and its relations with Syria and Arab countries."
Japan an industrialized country before World War II suffered tremendous losses due to the war, and was able to recover and emerge from its weakened status to become a major economic power house.
The Japanese ambassador highlighted Japan's development after World War II. He said Japan's defeat in the war, resulted in the loss of 44% of its land. Many cities were destroyed by US bombing, and with the return of millions of soldiers and civilians from abroad, there was a serious shortage of food and sharp inflation.
The ambassador spoke about economic relations between Japan and Syria and the Arab states. As for Japan's relations with the Middle East, the ambassador said the Middle East situation is unique in that Japan has large trade deficits with the region due to large imports of crude oil.
He added that Japan imports from the Gulf states 80% of its total crude oil needs. Therefore, serious damage to the economy was caused by the oil shock in 1973. He added that Japanese exports to the Arab states include, automobiles machinery, and electric and electronic equipment. He noted that Japan has active investments in some of the Arab states.
He noted that in 1997, Japan's exports to the Middle East were worth about US $14 billion, which shows an increase of over 26% compared to the figures from 1996. " This increase was mainly due to the yen's appreciation and the decline of oil prices," he said, adding, "The share of Japanese exports to the Middle East was a little more than 3%" of total Japanese exports.
He went on that two thirds of these exports were directed to the oil-producing countries in this region. As for Japan's imports from the Arab states in 1997, the ambassador said that they were worth about US $39 billion, representing an increase of 20%.
He continued to explain that the prospects for the Middle East economy in 1998 are not necessarily good, "in the ambassador's own view." On the Syrian - Japanese trade experience, Mr. Kagami said that in 1997, "The Japanese exports to Syria were estimated at US $194 million, covered automobiles, machinery, rubber products, textiles and others."
He added that Japan's imports from Syria are estimated at US $36 million. They cover cotton and antiques. The ambassador said: "We find no crude oil exported from Syria to Japan. This is because of the distance between the two countries, though Japanese imports from Syria still account for five-fold that of Syrian imports from Japan."
The Japanese ambassador noted that the tourism and textile industries are Syria's potential key prospects for development. He went on to say that as for Japan's economic cooperation with Syria: "Syria is the fourth-largest among Japan's Middle East recipients."
He said that Japan's yen loans to Syria are given every 3-4 years for electric power stations, adding that Japan's annual grants to Syria are "US $30-35 million" for water supply systems, garbage collection facilities, ambulances, fire engines, educational equipment and medical equipment for the hospitals.
As for technical assistance the ambassador said: "Annually, about 20 Japanese experts are sent to Syria," adding that "60 Syrian young trainees are also sent to Japan for training courses and about 30 Japanese young volunteers are sent to Syria."
On development surveys, the ambassador noted Japan's support for the Syrian side in conducting surveys in the areas of textiles, tourism, water supply and resource management, solar energy development, as well as in assisting Palestinian refugees.
Kagami concluded by saying that Japan's basic cooperation with Syria, is because of its being a "key nation in the Middle East process, and that it is important to maintain security and stability for Syria and Japan alike."