During the first round of talks in Tokyo, Japan and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council exchanged lists of requests and offers concerning tariff cuts and liberalization of services, Jiji Press news agency said.

The GCC groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

The Japanese side demanded that GCC nations abolish the five-percent tariff imposed on automobile exports which account for 54 percent of the trade from Japan to the Middle Eastern nations, Jiji said.

For its part, the GCC was expected to have asked Japan to cut or abolish tariffs on petrochemical products, the report said.

The next round of negotiations are expected to be held in Riyadh in December, it said.

Japan, the world's second largest economy, is almost entirely dependent on the Middle East for its oil.