TOKYO: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Japan next week, where he will hold talks on energy while hunting more opportunities in gaming as he seeks to improve Saudi Arabia’s image.
The reputed “Call of Duty” fan has launched a multi-billion-dollar push into the gaming sector – from tiny eSports to game development – as part of his Vision 2030 transformation strategy for the oil-rich kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund holds around eight percent stake in Nintendo, and the country is planning a theme park based on Japan’s “Dragon Ball” manga franchise in a new “entertainment city” outside Riyadh.
The kingdom is also organising an eSports World Cup starting this year to become the industry’s “premier global hub”.
“The Saudi Crown Prince finds Japanese soft power, particularly in gaming and eSports, highly appealing,” said Mohammed Soliman from the Middle East Institute in Washington.
“It aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and builds the kingdom’s soft power in this rapidly growing area beyond Riyadh’s religious leadership,” he told AFP.
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Prince Mohammed, 38, known by his initials MBS, will meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the emperor on his first visit to Japan since 2019.
When Kishida visited Saudi Arabia last July, the focus was on energy, particularly green energy and decarbonisation.
But this time the scope will likely be broader “as Riyadh eyes partnerships with major Asian powers – chiefly Japan and Korea – on manufacturing, trade, and technologies,” Soliman said.
‘Global hub’
The country’s de facto leader in 2022 announced a $38-billion investment strategy for the kingdom’s Savvy Games Group, owned by the deep-pocketed sovereign wealth fund.
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