TOKYO, JAPAN – The ninth session of the Abu Dhabi-Japan Economic Council (ADJEC) here has reaffirmed its commitment to further enhance partnerships and benefits from investments opportunities.
Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi and President of Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME) Kodaira Nobuyori co-chaired the ADJEC session, which was attended by senior officials and executives from both sides.
Since its launch in 2011, ADJEC has significantly contributed to strengthening bilateral relations between Japan and Abu Dhabi, creating business opportunities, and facilitating trade and investments.
In 2022, the bilateral trade between the UAE and Japan rose 57.5 percent to exceed US$54 billion (AED200 billion) compared to US$34.5 billion (AED127 billion) in 2021, making UAE the seventh largest trade partner of Japan, up from 10th in 2021.
UAE exports to Japan grew 69.7 percent to US$45.9 billion (AED168.8 billion) compared to $27 billion (AED99.5 billion) in 2021, and its imports from Japan rose from $7.4 billion (AED27.5 billion) in 2021 to $8.4 billion (AED31.1 billion) in 2022, a growth rate of 13.3 percent.
Al Zaabi said, “Over the past years, the cooperation between Abu Dhabi and Japan has diversified further to include various sectors and enhance mutual trade and investments.”
He said, “Japan is among Abu Dhabi’s top five trading partners and flows of investments from both sides are on the rise.”
He added, “ADJEC is a suitable platform to further advance this enviable partnership and take it to new heights.”
Al Zaabi said, “In Abu Dhabi, we have nurtured a supportive business ecosystem, world-class connectivity and infrastructure, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem to generate opportunities for all, enabling them to reach their full potential. We encourage businesses and entrepreneurs in Japan to benefit from the ample, promising opportunities in Abu Dhabi to grow and thrive.”
In the first nine months of 2022, non-oil merchandise trade with Japan rose 48 percent compared to the same period in 2021.
Japan is the third-largest source market for Abu Dhabi’s inward FDIs and represents 3 percent of total FDI inflows to the UAE.
The value of Japanese investments in the UAE exceeded $13.9 billio (AED51.4 billion) by end of October 2022.
The ninth session of ADJEC was attended and addressed by Satomi Ryuji, Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; Shihab Ahmed Al Faheem, UAE Ambassador to Japan; Abdulla Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Board of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sameh Al Qubaisi, Director-General of Economic Affairs Abu Dhabi at ADDED and over 50 senior officials and executives from public and private sectors.
Shihab Ahmed Al Faheem said, “UAE is now Japan’s largest supplier of crude oil. UAE and Japan have signed strategic agreements to strengthen cooperation across high priority sectors as well as accelerating development of renewables, including large-scale projects for hydrogen production and its utilization.”
He said, “This is part of UAE’s efforts to ensure sustainable development, and we are looking explore and diversify our relations in sustainable projects and innovation generating sectors.”
ADDED organized Abu Dhabi Investment Forum highlighting new business opportunities in industrial, energy, real estate and financial sectors.
ADDED’s Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) showcased investment and cooperation opportunities in the sector.
It is also rolling out initiatives and building partnerships with leading global institutions to deliver objectives of the recently launched Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy.
This includes increasing the sector size to $46.8 billion, creating 13,600 new jobs, and contributing to raise the emirate’s non-oil exports to $48.6 billion by 2031.