It is indeed a fortunate coincidence that I should be among those addressing this Symposium on the prospects of co-operation between the Arab Gulf States and Japan, for I happen for some years now to have been the director of an institution that owes its existence in part to Japanese technical assistance. This institution, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), happens also to be the very first in the Gulf dedicated to applied research. This reflects the belief of both parties that scientific research plays a key role in national development.