Bahrain and Japan: Connecting Seas, Building the Next 50 Years

By Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif / Special to The Japan News

5:00 JST, September 18, 2025

Bahrain’s Minister of Sustainable Development Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif is in Japan this week. She talks about how Bahrain and Japan’s partnership today is broader and more deliberate in the following contribution to The Japan News.

Today in Osaka, as Bahrain marks its National Day at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa leads our delegation to the Bahrain Pavilion. His Royal Highness will then meet with the Emperor, Crown Prince and the Prime Minister of Japan in Tokyo.

Bahrain and Japan are two island nations, strategically located, surrounded by sea and setting a course for the next 50 years.

The relationship between our countries started in the 1930s, when Japan became Bahrain’s first overseas market for crude oil, an early act of confidence that grew into formal ties in 1972 and deepened in the 1980s with Japan’s diplomatic presence in Manama. Trade became connected: Japanese language courses were introduced in Bahrain, cultural exchanges deepened with expanded student exchange programs, and in 2000, the Japanese Studies Centre at the University of Bahrain was established, followed by our Embassy in Tokyo in 2005.

The partnership today is broader and more deliberate. We cooperate on security through the revised 2023 Memorandum on Defence Cooperation, high-level visits, joint naval exercises, and multilateral coordination. Japan’s sustained role in counter-piracy, including within the Combined Maritime Forces, underscores a shared commitment to safe sea lanes, protecting the arteries of global commerce.

It is a role in global security that Japan has played for decades.

Japan’s historic economic journey has revealed important insights for Bahrain which we have made our own. We are focused on key strategic sectors, government-backed, with catalytic, credible policies that encourage private investment and keep markets competitive, so firms stay agile.

Today, economically, our strategies fit.

Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 has delivered diversification — non-oil activities now account for over 85% of real GDP — and Bahrain continues to invite high-quality foreign investment. Japanese companies such as Sumitomo, Kyushu Electric Power, and Mitsui & Co. partner to deliver over 20% of Bahrain’s electricity and water production while bringing advanced engineering to our energy and industrial base; Toyota alone represents roughly a third of vehicles on our roads.

Our recent Bahrain–Japan investment agreement provides the certainty investors value, lower friction for capital, technology, and talent to move in both directions. We pair this policy clarity with human capital — Bahrain is ranked 3rd in the Arab World in the U.N.’s Human Development Index global rankings — and it creates real possibilities.

Our environmental corridor is equally exciting. For decades, Bahrain and Japan have collaborated on cleaner industries and smarter resource use, from pioneering carbon capture at GPIC to ongoing cooperation in efficiency and water management. New commitments with Bapco Energies, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Alba, and Daiki Aluminium signal the next phase: low-carbon logistics, hydrogen-ready infrastructure, circular metals, and technology transfers that reduce emissions while unlocking opportunity.

What comes next is clear. The world economy is being rewired by technology, climate imperatives, and the need for resilient, sustainable supply chains.

Bahrain offers a stable, open, and connected platform to the Gulf and beyond. Japan brings world-class technology and a proven method for building competitive sectors. Together, we can move faster, invest, build, and scale solutions that will matter for decades to come.

Under the banner “Connecting Seas” at Expo 2025, Bahrain continues to invite Japan’s established champions and the next generation of innovators to get on board, because the wind is in our sails and the current is with us.

Noor bint Ali Alkhulaif is Bahrain’s Minister of Sustainable Development and Chief Executive of Bahrain Economic Development Board.