In this year of 2022, Japan and the United Arab Emirates are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations which was established on 4th May 1972. The two nations have been fostering strong and friendly relationships for the past 50 years.
The trade relationship between Japan and the UAE have been traditionally highlighted by the cooperation in the energy field. However, in recent years both the governments have worked together on expanding the scope of cooperation in various fields such as education, renewable energy and space explorations. Let me point out the importance of the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Initiative (CSPI)” between our two countries, which is designed as a new cooperation framework based on the Joint Statement issued on the occasion of the visit by the then Prime Minister, Mr. Shinzo ABE to the UAE in 2018. The CSPI framework covers 12 fields of cooperation, not only traditional fields such as energy and business but also advanced technologies and women empowerment.
The bilateral cooperation has now flourished beyond the earth to the space. The UAE became the first Arab country to reach Mars in February last year with its Mars Mission named Hope Probe, and this made the people in the UAE and Japan excited. The HOPE was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan with an H2A rocket which was made in Japan by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a renowned Japanese company. This is one among many contributions by Japan to the UAE’s space explorations, and the achievement gives us literally a “hope” for the future of our bilateral cooperation.
When we turn our eyes to the Expo, we can find interesting links between the two countries. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi participated in an Expo for its first time, even before the founding of the UAE, when the City of Osaka in Japan hosted the Expo in 1970. Half a century later, the UAE hosted the Expo 2020 Dubai, the very first Expo in the MENA region which saw the largest global gathering since the start of the pandemic, came to an end on March 31, 2022. Then, the baton of the Expo-host was handed over from Dubai to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
Relations on Trade and Commerce
Let me give you an overview of the trade relations between Japan and the UAE. The total value of imports from Japan to the UAE was USD 7.1 billion and that of exports from the UAE to Japan was USD 26.2 billion in 2019, which was before the pandemic. While the total value of both imports from Japan and exports to Japan dropped to USD 5.5 billion and to USD 16.3 billion respectively in 2020, the UAE is still one of the ten biggest importing partners for Japan and maintains strong trade ties with Japan. Transportation equipments account for the majority of Japan’s exports to the UAE. For Japanese industrial products, the UAE is an important destination because it has always been a re-exporting base to the markets abroad for these products. The importance of the UAE for Japan as a close trading partner would remain unchanged in the foreseeable future.
As for business and commerce relationships between our two nations, approximately 290 Japanese companies are currently operating in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, which cover a wide range of industries including manufacturing, wholesale and retail and transportation services. Many Japanese enterprises have established their regional headquarters for business in the Middle East and Africa in Dubai, owing to business-friendly environment for foreign companies created and enhanced by the UAE over the past 30 to 40 years, which consists of the stable social and political situation, the well maintained public safety and security and excellent infrastructure such as electricity, water, telecommunications, medical care and educational system, to name a few.
Furthermore, there are many free zones with much less restrictions for foreign investors and English is widely spoken as a business language in the UAE. These are the factors that have contributed to the UAE ranking first in the MENA region and 16th in the world in the business environment ranking issued by the World Bank. However, I believe the most important reason is that Dubai has created a diverse and tolerant society where people from different cultures and backgrounds find it easy to reside. The expat business community finds it welcoming that they have access to non-halal food and alcoholic beverages at select places in the emirate.
In addition, Dubai has succeeded in mitigating socio-economic impact of the pandemic since the early 2020, by starting PCR tests widely in the emirate while strengthening its medical systems, by having resumed to accommodate travelers including tourists from abroad as early as July 2020 and by accelerating the vaccination process at the fastest pace possible. Then, the Expo 2020 Dubai opened doors to the world, adopting effective preventive measures against the COVID-19 in October 2021. The event which was forced to be postponed for a year due to the pandemic, came to the grand finale with a great success at the end of March 2022. This success proved that those preventive measures by Dubai were correct and appropriate.
The government of Dubai has been standing firm with its policy of managing society “with COVID-19” since the early stage of the pandemic. This policy has made it possible for Dubai to continue to be a valuable and attractive investment destination not only for Japan, but also for countries all over the world.
Contribution to FDI from both sides
We, Japanese, welcome the trend of revamping the regulations on foreign investments in the UAE over the past few years. The abolishment of the required majority shareholding ratio of the UAE nationals in the foreign investments with the amendment to the Commercial Companies Law in September 2020 could be a tailwind policy for Japanese corporations who generally prefer 100% capital investments. Even the Japanese companies who have established their offices in the free zones see the new policy as a positive development in the UAE as it allows them to operate their businesses not only inside but also outside of the free zones.
It is noteworthy that each emirate is very proactive in attracting start-up companies from abroad. In this context, I could mention a few examples in Dubai – the Dubai Silicon Oasis, the Dubai Start-up Hub, and the Dubai International Financial Centre. Moreover, events such as GITEX and the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival are being held at various locations in the UAE to bring together the latest technologies and ideas from around the globe and Japanese start-ups are also turning their attention to the UAE.
Furthermore, I would like to point out that there is a growing business relationship between Japan and the UAE, not only at the national level but also at the local level, for example between Dubai and the Osaka Prefecture or the City of Osaka, the next host city of the Expo and the sister city of Dubai. Last December, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry co-hosted an online event with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry for business exchanges including a pitch session by enterprises located in Dubai and the other Middle Eastern countries who are keen to entering the Japanese market. Also, the Osaka Prefecture hosted a symposium in February 2022 connecting Japan and Dubai to encourage Japanese corporations to expand their operations into overseas as part of the commemoration events of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Japan and the UAE.
Future Vision
As aforementioned, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Japan and the UAE. I, as the Consul-General of Japan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, would like to emphasize my efforts in the following areas to make our relationship more multilayered and multifaceted towards the 50 years to come.
First, let me take up the economic area. I would like to bring new Japanese companies, especially start-up companies to the UAE, in addition to supporting Japanese enterprises who have been already operating in the UAE. On one hand, I believe that there are many start-ups in Japan which could provide solutions to the needs of the governmental organizations as well as private companies in the UAE.
On the other hand, I strongly feel that efforts have to be taken to make Japanese start-ups aware of the attractiveness of the UAE as an operation base and the business opportunities which the UAE is offering to foreign entrepreneurs. I would, therefore, like to promote exchanges between companies including start-ups from both nations and contribute to further economic development of our countries.
Secondly, I would like to increase the number of inbound tourists from the UAE by introducing them to various charms of Japan, especially food related ones such as wide variety of culinary in Japan and high-quality Japanese ingredients. We offered Saroma Wagyu which is one of the premium beef produced in the Hokkaido prefecture, Anpogaki (persimmons) from the Fukushima prefecture, and Crown Melon from the Shizuoka prefecture, when I hosted our Emperor’s Birthday Reception on the occasion of the 62nd birthday of His Majesty the Emperor Naruhito in February. After witnessing the long queue and receiving positive feedback from the guests, I found once again the tremendous market potential our food products have.
Lastly, I would like to develop platforms for further exchanges between the youths of Japan and the UAE who will lead the next generation of our great nations. In this context, I am strongly interested in promoting exchanges in new areas such as e-sports and e-games. The UAE Olympic Committee has recently recognized e-sports as an official event, and this proves the growing popularity of e-sports in the UAE. I have high expectations for young people to play a key role for deepening mutual understanding between Japan and the UAE and for being the driving force to further enhance our existing harmonious relationship for the next 50 years.
