The government of Japan doesn’t have any plans to be a strategic investor in Saudi Arabia’s government-controlled oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco’s planned initial public offering (IPO).

Instead Japan may jointly invest with the Saudi government in industrial ventures in the kingdom to help its drive to develop non-oil industries, Yasutoshi Nishimura, an adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was cited as saying by news agency Reuters.

“Japan will not invest in Saudi Aramco. Rather, Japan will likely be cooperating in new industries…to reflect Saudi Arabia’s intention to develop new and non-energy industries,” he said.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is trying to radically transform its economy to cut its dependence on sale of hydrocarbons for revenues. The kingdom, in April launched its vision 2020 in April and later in June a National transformation plan, which emphasises on generating alternative revenues streams and the developing the country’s non-oil sectors.

At the heart of the government’s reform agenda is the sale of less than 5 per cent of Aramco shares worth estimated $100bn to the public. It will transfer the remaining ownership to Public Investment Fund (PIF) which will inflate its size to $2 trillion and help it invest at home and abroad to with an aim to generate income from investment activities.

Officials from Saudi Arabia and Japan have held meetings to discuss cornerstone Japanese investment into the planned Aramco IPO, according to the kingdom’s energy minister.

“We have a great relationship with energy companies in Japan and also financial institutions,” Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid al-Falih said on the sidelines of a G20 energy ministers meeting in Beijing on 29 June. “I am sure the IPO of Aramco will receive great participation from the financial industry in Japan.”

Saudi Arabia could also consider listing Aramco’s shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, kingdom’s Al-Falih said earlier this month.

“I think (it is) a little bit early for selecting which stock exchange to list, but we’ve looked at the Tokyo Stock Exchange,” Al-Falih, who is also the chairman of Aramco, said at that time.

The kingdom has recently received a proposal from Japan concerning Aramco’s possible listing in Tokyo, which is ranked among the top global financial hubs.