The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) has granted three investment licenses for Japanese companies working in various economic sectors, a report said.

The granting of licences were revealed at the Saudi Arabia-Japan Business Forum on Sunday in Riyadh, said a Saudi Press Agency report.

Licences were issued to SMBC company in the field of financial and administrative consultations, SB Energy in the field of renewable energy consultancy and Tadano for providing scientific and technical services in the field of industry.

Six memoranda of understanding between the two countries were also signed, the report said.

Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Eng Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Faleh; Minister of Commerce and Investment Dr Majed bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi; Minister of Transport Eng Nabil bin Mohammed Al-Amoudi; Governor of the Sagia Eng Ibrahim bin Abdurrahman Al-Omar; Princess Rima bint Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, undersecretary of the General Sports Authority; Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko and a number of Japanese senior officials participated in the forum.

Dr Al-Qasabi affirmed that Saudi Arabia provides a suitable environment for Japanese businessses to invest as the kingdom offers opportunities for expanding into the larger Middle East and Africa (MEA) markets, apart from providing an advanced infrastructure.

Within activities of the forum titled "Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030", Dr Al-Qasabi added that the two sides will review achievements of the Saudi-Japanese joint vision 2030.

Eng Al-Faleh highlighted the partnerships between the two sides in the fields of oil, technology and banking. The kingdom provides 35-40 per cent of Japan's oil needs.

Eng Al-Omar stressed that the kingdom's Vision 2030 seeks to create promising opportunities for investment and development, including raising the direct foreign investment rate to 5.7 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, in addition to increasing contributions of the private sector from 40 per cent to 65 per cent of the GDP.

He added that the volume of trade between Saudi Arabi and Japan had reached about SR100 billion ($26.67 billion) last year. The total number of Japanese companies investing in the kingdom was 97, with investments exceeding SR53 billion ($14.13 billion).