Containers are piled up at a port in Yokohama, south of Tokyo on June 17, 2020. (PHOTO / AP)

RIYADH - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Japan announced Sunday the resumption of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The two sides signed a joint statement in the Saudi city of Jeddah to resume the negotiations on the sidelines of a meeting between GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is on an official visit to the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia said it remains committed to securing oil supplies for Japan and will continue cooperating with Tokyo on clean hydrogen, ammonia and recycled carbon fuels

Japan is currently GCC's fourth-largest export market and import source, according to Albudaiwi.

Also on Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it remains committed to securing oil supplies for Japan and will continue cooperating with Tokyo on clean hydrogen, ammonia and recycled carbon fuels.

The kingdom will keep supplying Saudi crude oil for Okinawa's government oil reserves in southern Japan, a statement posted on the energy ministry's website quoted Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as saying.

"We continue to guarantee oil supply to Japan and maintain our position as the most reliable partner," Prince Abdulaziz said. "Saudi is Japan's biggest oil exporter fulfilling 40 percent of its total needs."

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The Saudi energy ministry said it signed agreements with the Japanese industry and trade ministry to develop clean hydrogen, production of ammonia and its derivatives and recycled carbon fuels.

The two countries signed 26 cooperation agreements during the visit, Saudi Arabia's Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih told state-run Al Ekhbariya television.