Kishida, who is heading a 23-member delegation of Japanese businessmen and officials, met his counterpart Mohammad-Javad Zarif in the morning.
Resource-poor Japan is seeking to secure stable supplies of crude oil and natural gas from Iran and is making arrangements for setting up a bilateral committee to deal with energy and infrastructure development and other economic issues, media reports in Tokyo said.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Japan and Iran will begin three-day negotiations from Monday in Tehran to conclude a bilateral investment treaty, a move aimed at tapping into the commercial potential of the Iranian market for Japanese firms, a Kyodo News report said.
Japan is hoping that such measures would make it easier for more domestic firms to operate in oil-rich Iran, with a population of around 78 million, and eventually lead to increased auto exports and participation in Iranian oil field development, according to The Japan Times.
The Japanese government is sending Kishida to meet with his counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in hopes of setting up a joint committee at the director general level to discuss issues including finance, infrastructure-building and development of natural resources and energy, sources said.
In August, Daishiro Yamagiwa, senior vice minister for economy, trade and industry, visited Iran and held talks with high-ranking officials including Zangeneh.
On the eve of the ministerial meeting, Deputy Petroleum Minister for Petrochemical Industry Abbas Shari-Moqaddam and Senior Executive Vice President of Mitsubishi Corporation’s Chemical Group, Takahisa Miyauchi, on Sunday exchanged views on the possibility of the Japanese firm’s participation in Iran’s projects.
The CEO of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) welcomed Mitsubishi’s interest for presence in Iran and said foreign financiers can invest in downstream petrochemical projects, saying Iran’s rich oil and gas resources and Japan’s technology depict promising prospects for their bilateral venture in future.
Iran as the holder of the largest combined gas and oil reservoirs is an appropriate country for Japanese investors, Miyauchi said.
Also on Sunday, Director of International Affairs in Iranian Petroleum Ministry said the giant Japanese refiner Showa Shell is in negotiations with Iran over volume of buying crude oil from Iran after sanctions are lifted.
“Showa Shell’s senior officials are accompanying the Japanese foreign minister during his visit to Iran with the sale of crude to the major Asian refiner on the agenda of the talks,” Mohsen Qamsari told Shana.
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