His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, received Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, at Qasr Al Watan today.
Abe is currently on an official visit to the country. Upon his arrival at the palace, the visiting prime minister was accorded an official ceremonial reception.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed and the Japanese Prime Minister walked up to the dais as a band played the national anthems of the two countries, following which the Artillery Regiment fired a 21-gun salute to the country's guest. Later, they inspected the guard of honour lined up in the courtyard of the palace.
In attendance were H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior; H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs; H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council; H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; H.H. Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Member of the Executive Council; and H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court.
Attending from the Japanese side were Naoki Okada, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary; Minoru Kihara, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister; Shigeru Kitamura, Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat; Takaya Imai, Special Adviser and Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister; Hiroshi Suzuki, Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister; Akihiko Nakajima, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the UAE; Takeo Mori, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs; Katsuhiko Takahashi, Director-General, Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Makoto Osawa, Vice Minister for International Affairs at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Yasunori Nishida, Vice-Minister of Defense for International Affairs; Naoki Fujii, Vice-Minister for Transport, Tourism and International Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and Shigehiro Tanaka, Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
