On Nov. 4, the Qatari government expressed interest in Japan's first passenger jet to be produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Japanese officials said.

A joint statement, released after the third meeting of the Japan-Qatar Joint Economic Committee, said the Japanese government "emphasized the significant contribution that will be made by the wide use of environmentally friendly regional passenger aircraft developed in Japan for solving the environmental problems".

Japan has been promoting the global sale of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, scheduled to be launched in 2013.

A Japanese industry ministry official said the Qatari government has not yet mentioned whether the oil-rich country is interested in "purchasing" the new 70-90 seat class regional jet.