Tokyo governor keen to attract investors from Saudi Arabia

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko will also be promoting so-called soft power, such as anime and manga, in addition to boosting business opportunities, during his visit toi the Middle East. (AN file photo)
Short Url
Updated 20 October 2025
Follow

Tokyo governor keen to attract investors from Saudi Arabia

TOKYO: Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko, speaking ahead of her trip to the Middle East later this month, emphasized the importance of attracting investment from Saudi Arabia during her weekly press conference.

“We are currently in the midst of attracting investors to Saudi Arabia, a country that is enthusiastic about investing, so I think it is extremely valuable to promote Tokyo there,” she said. “I hope to promote Tokyo’s initiatives and appeal, and foster cooperation between cities.”

Koike referred to the Future Cities Initiative in Riyadh, which, she pointed out, has attracted a great deal of attention by bringing together investors and those involved in innovation and financial strategy. 

“To give you an idea, people like Elon Musk have attended this event,” she said. “And it attracts roughly 5,000 people, making it a sort of ‘Davos in the desert.’ At these events, I hope to firmly promote Tokyo’s financial market and engage in investor relations.”

While Koike is keen to boost business opportunities, she will also be promoting so-called soft power, such as anime and manga. She will be appearing on stage with Takahashi Yoichi, the creator of Captain Tsubasa, who is known as Captain Majid in the Middle East. Koike said anime and its content are said to have an economic impact of approximately 8 trillion yen.

Koike will be conducting business matching for Tokyo-based small and medium-sized enterprises and startups in Riyadh and Kuwait, as well as Tokyo’s “excellent technology” to local government officials and business communities. 

 

 

 


Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim ‘stabbed by stranger on drink, drugs,’ UK court hears

Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim ‘stabbed by stranger on drink, drugs,’ UK court hears

  • 20-year-old ‘posed no threat to anybody’ when he was attacked in Cambridge last year
  • Jurors watch CCTV video of attack by man in high-vis jacket, BBC reports

LONDON: Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim died after being stabbed in Cambridge by a stranger who had been drinking and using drugs, prosecutors told a court in the UK city on Tuesday.

According to a BBC News website report of the trial at Cambridge Crown Court, prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said that the 20-year-old was sitting outside student accommodation on Aug. 1 last year when he was stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife by Chas Corrigan.

CCTV cameras had recorded the attack along with Corrigan’s actions before and after the incident, he said.

Al-Qasim, a University of Jeddah student who had traveled to the UK to study at a language school during the summer, died just after midnight on Aug. 2.

Jurors watched CCTV video footage of the attack, which showed Al-Qasim running away after a confrontation with a man in a yellow high-vis jacket, the BBC report said.

The footage showed Corrigan, who was wearing the jacket, stabbing Al-Qasim, Hearn said.

“The reality is that, in this case, the footage speaks for itself,” he told the jurors.

Hearn said that Corrigan, 22, from Cambridge, had admitted being in possession of a knife at the time but denied murdering Al-Qasim.

Hearn said there was evidence that Corrigan had been drinking and taking drugs before the stabbing and had been “behaving crazily” in a pub.

“Mr Al-Qasim posed no threat to anybody. He was a student who had come to Cambridge to study from Saudi Arabia,” the lawyer said.

Hearn added that “the defendant was the aggressor here,” and that Al-Qasim had never met Corrigan.

Jane Osborne KC, Corrigan’s defense lawyer, said that her client had admitted he was the man in the CCTV video and that he had been carrying the knife, but had “no intention of using that knife,” the BBC report said.

Corrigan had aimed to wave the knife between himself and Al-Qasim, she said.

Corrigan denies murdering Al-Qasim and his trial is expected to last about two weeks.