Mubasher: Qatar’s trade surplus with Japan surged 41.4% year-on-year during the six-month period between April and September, the first half of the Japanese fiscal year, according to the Japanese Ministry of Finance's (MoF) report on Thursday.

Trade surplus between the two countries amounted to JPY 672.96 billion ($5.99 billion) in six months, compared to JPY 475.88 billion ($4.24 billion) in the same month a year earlier.

The ministry attributed the increase in trade surplus to the rise in Qatar’s exports to Japan by 38% to JPY 741.72 billion ($6.61 billion) in the first six months of the Japanese fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s total imports from the Asian nation levelled up 11.6% year-on-year to JPY 68.76 billion ($612.09 million) in the six-month period ended 30 September, the data showed.

However, Qatar’s trade surplus with Japan jumped 35.5% recording JPY 98.01 billion ($872.48 million) in September, against JPY 72.31 billion ($643.70 million) in September 2017.

The Gulf nation’s exports to Japan soared 34.9% year-on-year to JPY 113.23 billion ($1.01 billion) in the previous month, while imports from Japan rose 30.8% to JPY 15.22 billion ($135.49 million).