The agreements will serve to promote university-wide joint academic, research and cultural exchanges and activities in general and the CAS Gulf Studies Centre in particular.

Qatar University (QU) signed agreements with three Japanese organisations at the recent Qatari-Japanese Economic Forum during the state visit of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Japan.
He was accompanied by a QU delegation comprising the organisation’s president, Professor Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad, associate vice-president for research operations and director of Social and Economic Survey Research Institute Dr Darwish Abdulrahman al-Emadi, College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) dean Dr Eiman Mustafawi and CAS associate dean for research Dr Mohamed Ahmedna.
The agreements with Osaka University (OU), the Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organisation (IDE-JETRO) and the Japan Institute for Energy Economics (IEEJ) were signed in the presence of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani, his counterpart, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoichi Miyazawa, OU president Dr Toshio Hirano and executive vice-president Yasuyuki Okamura, IDE-JETRO president Dr Takashi Shiraishi and IEEJ chairman and CEO Masakazu Toyoda.
They will serve to promote university-wide joint academic, research and cultural exchanges and activities in general and the CAS Gulf Studies Centre (GSC) in particular.
Under the terms of the agreement signed with OU, both institutions will respectively organise summer school programmes, develop a student exchange programme, establish a visiting professor scheme and host student interns and/or research assistants. Both parties will also organise and participate in joint academic activities, exchange academic information and materials, facilitate and promote joint research projects and publish output, and supervise graduate students.
The agreement also includes the reservation of five places annually for OU students to pursue courses at CAS’s Arabic for Non-Native Speakers’ Centre.  
The agreement with IDE-JETRO will support research at GSC and contribute to demonstrating how economic development in the Gulf can be achieved in the context of reliance on revenue from hydrocarbon exports.
Similarly, the CAS-IEEJ agreement will facilitate a number of joint research activities in the Gulf, which will include academic exchanges, among other areas of co-operation.
Commenting on the agreements, Professor al-Misnad said: “In partnering with OU, IDE-JETRO and IEEJ, we are bringing together students, faculty and researchers from these prestigious organisations to exchange experiences and knowledge that will add value to their academic and research goals.”
Dr Hirano said, “It is truly an honour to sign an inter-university academic exchange agreement with such a prestigious institution as Qatar University. We anticipate this agreement will result in further active, meaningful co-operation between our institutions, building on the success of our Coupling Internship programme.”
Dr Mustafawi added, “The agreements aim to encourage participation in joint academic activities such as conferences, workshops and seminars between the institutions, in addition to facilitating joint research projects between faculty members and researchers.”
Meanwhile, GSC director Dr Abdullah Baabood said: “These newly-signed agreements will add another dimension to our efforts in collaborating with like-minded organisations and add value to our respective research capabilities.”