The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) to support their strategic partnership, lay a solid foundation for joint ventures, with the aim of accelerating innovation and stimulating the energy transition for a more sustainable energy future.
The signing ceremony, which was held in Jeddah, came on the sidelines of the official visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Saudi Arabia.
The new cooperation agreement comes within the framework of the “Manar” initiative for clean energy cooperation, launched yesterday by the Saudi and Japanese sides, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The Saudi-Japanese cooperation includes research and applied activities that include joint workshops, holding events and participation in international conferences, evaluating experts specialized in the same field for research and policy papers, and exchanging researchers.
Expanding the scope of mutual collaboration, the partnership will encompass areas of mutual interest by combining knowledge wealth and research capabilities, including innovative solutions to address contemporary energy challenges such as hydrogen, ammonia, synthetic fuels (methane), carbon capture, use and storage technologies, carbon recycling and direct air capture, nuclear energy, and a variety of other specialized solutions to address today’s energy challenges.
IEEJ Chairman and CEO Tatsuya Terazawa pointed out the importance of consolidating cooperation with KAPSARC through this agreement and said he looks forward to strengthening cooperation with KAPSARC at the highest level to materialize the hoped-for expectations into reality and work towards achieving global leadership.