UAE, Japan to launch business council

The UAE and Japan are looking to put together a business council.

During the virtual meeting between Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Hiroshi Kajiyama, Japan’s minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, both sides approved the formation of an joint team tasked with putting together a UAE-Japanese business council, to improve the partnership between the Emirati and Japanese business communities towards creating opportunities for companies in both countries.

It would also aim to generate added value from joint investments, provide information and services for investors, and encourage communication between relevant government authorities.

The officials also discussed means of boosting mutual trade and investments and facilitating the movement of imports and exports between the countries.

Al Zeyoudi said that the partnership between the UAE and Japan is reflected by positive economic indexes, with the value of Japanese direct investments in the UAE since the start of 2020 totalling $4.01bn, a growth of 22.6 per cent from 2015 until 2020. Japan is ranked tenth globally among the list of countries investing in the UAE, and eighth globally in terms of non-oil trade, which reached $8.95bn in the first ten months of 2020, he added.

“We will continue advancing our bilateral cooperation in target areas and sectors that support the economy of the future, especially technology, electronics, advanced industries, medical research, space sciences, automation, artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship. The UAE-Japanese business council will play a key role in this regard,” Al Zeyoudi said.

Kajiyama highlighted his country’s desire to reinforce its relations with the UAE, most notably in the energy sector. He also stressed his country’s eagerness to actively participate in Expo 2020 Dubai, official news agency WAM reported.

Entities across both countries have collaborated earlier as well. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) signed an agreement with Japan’s ispace earlier this year, by virtue of which the latter will provide payload delivery services to the Emirates Lunar Mission.

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