ABU DHABI, UAE: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is arriving in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on an official visit today.
His visit will mark the first to the Emirates as prime minister. The visit is part of a Gulf tour. Kishida began his visit to the region by reaching Jeddah on Sunday and will head to Doha after the UAE.
Mr Kishida will hold talks with President Sheikh Mohamed on developing economic ties that date back more than 50 years. Japan was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with the UAE in 1971.
Kishida, in an article for UAE news agency Wam, said the relations between the nations continue to grow. Cooperation between the UAE and Japan has expanded far beyond traditional areas such as energy and economy to include a wide range of fields such as science and technology, climate change, education, outer space and defence.
The UAE is Japan’s seventh-largest trading partner globally. It has been one of the main oil suppliers to Japan for the past half-century, providing 20 percent of its oil needs.
In 2022, trade between the Emirates and Japan rose 57.5 percent to exceed Dh200 billion compared with Dh127 billion in 2021.
Kishida said the bilateral relationship was also expanding in the field of space cooperation.
Japan has contributed to the Emirates space policy for many years. The launch of the its first domestically-manufactured satellite KhalifaSat in 2018 and the Mars Exploration Hope Probe in 2020 were both carried out by Japanese H2-A rockets, Kishida said.
“The launch of the UAE’s lunar probe Rashid Rover this April, operated in collaboration with Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and Japanese space startup company ispace was a significant step forward as the world’s first attempt by a private company to land a Moon-surface rover.
“I am confident that future-oriented efforts such as this will lead to greater success in the near future. Japan is determined to continue supporting further collaboration in the space field.”
UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed held talks with Kishida during a working visit to Tokyo in June. The two discussed ways and means to deepen the strategic partnership between the nations in areas including energy.
President-designate of the Cop28 summit Dr Sultan Al Jaber met Kishida in April before the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministerial meeting. The meeting focused on climate action and cooperation in the run-up to Cop28, which takes place this year in Dubai’s Expo City.
Kishida said “the UAE works responsibly to ensure global energy security and makes proactive efforts to address climate change issues”. “Japan will work closely with the UAE towards the success of Cop28,” he said.
The value of Japanese investments in the Emirates exceeded Dh51.4 billion ($14 billion) by the end of October 2022.
Kishida said he planned to propose a Japan-UAE Innovation Partnership – an enlarged plan for industrial collaboration with the UAE.
“In particular, Japan will make greater efforts to support an expanded flow of FDI into Japan and semiconductor industry with a view to an increased resilience of global supply chain of semiconductors,” he said.
