In 1988, I was
an official delegate, among other dignitaries, to Japan.
HRH Prince Al Hassan Ibn Talal headed the delegation on that state visit. He was also accompanied by
Princess Sarvath Al Hassan and Prince Rashid Ibn Al Hassan.
اضافة اعلان
Needless to say
that the trip preparations were meticulously tabulated and scheduled by an
advance Japanese team. They did their job with the deftness of the Hattori Hanzu
(swordsmith). Upon arrival, each delegate was assigned to his car, given a fully-detailed
schedule for the whole visit, and cars left on time whether the official guest
was in it or not.
We noticed that
there were sound barriers to prevent car noise from reaching nearby residential
areas all the way to our hotel in the heart of Tokyo (New Otani). Once there,
it took only five minutes for each guest to be in his room and to find that his
bag had been waiting for him. Such efficiency was pleasantly shocking.
The visit was
very rich. The ruling party at the time was the
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headed by the late Takeshita Noboru. The LPD announced the visit with the assertion
that Japan views Jordan as a strategic country for peace and security in the
Middle East. Until today the same position is echoed in all foreign policy
statements of the consecutive Japanese governments.
The first item
of the second day was to head to the foreign ministry in order to meet the minister,
Susuke Uno. The delegation stood near the lift to wait for Prince Al Hassan and
in order to join him to the cars, in violation of the detailed visit itinerary.
It specially mentioned that the delegates should be exactly at 8:30am waiting
in their respective cars. Prince Hassan reached his car ahead of us, and by the
time we arrived to where the cars were supposed to be, we found out that they
had left with the Prince to the foreign ministry. The cars returned to pick us
up half an hour later, and by the time we arrived, the meeting was almost over.
These are
lessons which we should learn when we sit to talk to our Japanese counterparts.
When you negotiate with them, you should be fully prepared to the last detail.
A Japanese delegate will only talk when the head of the delegation allows him
to. If the head does not have the answer, they leave the meeting, debate it
amongst themselves and return with an answer or a counter offer. The style of
group dynamic decision-making process is quite effective and produces the best
results. I learned this style in Jordan both academically and during my
negotiations with big Japanese corporations like C. Itoh Mitsubishi and others.
The Japanese
International Cooperation Agency is very much active in Jordan’s development.
According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which published a report on
Japan-Jordan economic relations on June 11, 2020, Japanese exports to Jordan in
2019 reached 55.2 billion Japanese yen (JD360 million) while its imports from
Jordan were only 3.9 billion yen (JD25 million). Aid to Jordan until 2016 was 282.6
billion yen (JD1.8 billion) in soft and 87 billion yen (JD568 million) in
grants and development loans, which are usually very easy loans with a grace
period, 1–2 percent annual interest, and could reach maturity in 30 years.
Japan also
spends on many cultural projects in Jordan. Yet aid is focused right now on the
crucially important water sector.
The late King
Al Hussein and His Majesty King Abdullah II have paid a number of visits to Japan.
It is a friendly country and its ambassadors to Jordan are always responsive to
Jordan’s needs and serve as excellent proponents of Jordan.
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