UAE, Japan Issue Joint Statement on Strengthening Strategic Partnership

joint UAE-Japanese statement has been issued following a meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, as part of the Prime Minister's official visit to the UAE on the 29th and 30th April.

Both sides, following on from the existing frameworks of bilateral cooperation in extensive areas, such as economics, culture, education, environment and defence, formulated a joint statement as a reflection of their true desire to further develop bilateral strategic relations in all areas of cooperation.

Building upon the shared successful legacy of the long-standing bilateral ties, both sides committed to deepening and strengthening their strategic partnership towards a future shared between the two countries in a comprehensive manner.

In this context, both sides affirmed their commitment to cooperating towards prosperity and stability and to formulating a joint vision and a joint cooperation strategy towards the next occasion of leaders’ meeting, under a framework named 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Initiative, CSPI'.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Prime Minister Abe confirmed to assign a UAE Minister of State and a State Minister for Foreign Affairs and senior officials from other relevant Ministries of Japan, to follow up on the CSPI. The nominations of the names of ministers from both sides will be confirmed via diplomatic channels.

In the framework of the Policy Consultations between Foreign Ministries, established by the Memorandum of Cooperation on Policy Consultations signed on 24th April 2017, both sides will oversee and consult on management of bilateral cooperation for the CSPI. Development of the joint vision and the joint cooperation strategy, review of progress, and necessary inter-agency coordination concerning cooperative programmes for the CSPI may be conducted by relevant Ministries, upon guidance by the Policy Consultations.

Results of such reviews or coordination will be reported to the Policy Consultations for further consideration.

Bilateral cooperation will be strengthened in the following fields, and details of such cooperation would be further discussed within the CSPI. 1. Political Cooperation Both sides confirmed their commitment to strengthening dialogue and consultations according to the Memorandum of Cooperation on Policy Consultations, and welcomed the positive outcomes of the first ministerial-level Policy Consultations held in Tokyo in April 2018 to increase mutual understanding on the regional and international issues and build common grounds for promoting bilateral relationship.

2. Economy (Business, Trade and Investment) Both sides highly praised the increased volume of trade between the two countries and stressed the importance of further enhancing trade, investments and business such as renewable energy, sustainable water desalination, advanced robotics, IOT, artificial intelligence, health care and medical equipment, aerospace and advanced vehicles.

Both sides also recognised the effective hub function of the UAE in the region and the importance of the UAE as a gateway to Africa, Middle East, and Europe.

Both sides also renewed their commitment to diversifying business into the non-energy sector.

Both sides shared their strong determination to cooperate on intellectual property rights and combating fake products.

Both sides reaffirmed their willingness to encourage business exchanges among small and medium enterprises of the two countries, taking advantage of supports such as incentives of the UAE’s Free-Zones and the SME Overseas Business Support Platform based in Dubai.

Both sides affirmed the importance of further advancing cooperation in the financial sector. To this end, both sides appreciated the recent active discussions on various financial issues including FinTech at the 2nd Japan-UAE Financial Cooperation Seminar held in March 2018 in Tokyo.

Both sides welcomed the initiative of holding the UAE-Japan Strategic Economic Partnership Forum between both countries. Both sides congratulated the members of Abu Dhabi-Japan Economic Council (ADJEC) for the contribution and success of their efforts to enhance trade and investment between the two countries.

Both sides welcomed the signing of the "Agreement between Japan and the United Arab Emirates for the Promotion and Protection of Investment." 3. Cultural Cooperation, Expo and Olympics United Arab Emirates and Japan have a long-standing relationship since before the establishment of the UAE’s federal system. This began with the participation of the Abu Dhabi Pavilion at the Osaka Expo in 1970.

Fifty years later, the UAE will host the Dubai Expo 2020. Japan and the UAE will share the year of 2020 as both sides welcome the cooperation between Dubai Expo 2020 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Dubai-Tokyo 2020 partnership is the first of its kind of cooperation between EXPO and the Olympic and Paralympics Games which will create great value for both countries and humanity.

Both sides renewed their pledge to further promote people-to-people exchanges in order to foster mutual understanding between both societies and also to strengthen cooperation in various cultural areas by extending support to organise joint cultural programmes between the two countries.

Both sides confirmed their willingness to promote intellectual exchanges, conduct dialogue on cultural policies, and strengthen mutual cooperation in the fields of tourism and cultural industries, including heritage preservation. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of promoting cultural exchanges in the fields of art, architecture, design, music, and pop culture.

4. Education, Advanced Science and Technology Cooperation Both sides reaffirmed the significance of enhancing further collaboration of the two countries under the existing Memorandum of Cooperation between the Cabinet Office of Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and the UAE Space Agency (UAESA) which is in charge of the UAE Mars mission in 2020, along with the Cooperation Arrangement signed in 2016 between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the UAE Space Agency (UAESA).

Both sides expressed satisfaction that KhalifaSat, the first UAE-made remote sensing Earth observation satellite, will be launched in 2018. Both sides confirmed their commitment to reinforcing cooperation in the fields of advanced technology, cyber security, robotic, IOT, big data analysis, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, nanotechnology and space activities.

Both sides hoped to further expand the cooperation in the fields of elementary and secondary education, standardisation of education curriculum, moral education, Japanese and Arabic language education, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, long-term internship, vocational training, industry-academia collaboration and cooperation between universities, including joint research.

5. Cooperation in Environment, Energy and Water Noting that the UAE is one of the most reliable and leading oil suppliers to Japan, both sides expressed satisfaction with existing economic cooperation especially in the energy sector, in particular the UAE’s renewal of Japanese companies’ concessions on offshore oil fields, for which Prime Minister Abe expressed his deepest appreciation. Both sides reaffirmed their determination to further expand their joint projects in the energy sector.

Both sides stressed the importance of promoting dialogues in the areas of energy, water management and other environmental fields and sharing technical knowledge, skills and expertise.

Both sides confirmed their willingness to cooperate in the field of clean and renewable energy, sustainable waste management, and peaceful use of nuclear energy to combat climate change. Both sides also stressed their commitment to continuing to support to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Both sides confirmed the UAE’s willingness to expand its downstream business and Japan’s interest in participating in both upstream and downstream growth projects and reaffirmed the possibility of strengthening a ‘win-win’ relationship between both countries through joint projects in the oil and gas industry. The UAE side noted that its planned downstream expansion will be a catalyst for growth and the further development and diversification of local industry.

Both sides encouraged activities for promoting joint projects, human resources development and technical field cooperation in accordance with the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

Both sides reiterated the importance of deepening financial cooperation between the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and ADNOC, and encouraged joint studies to be conducted by Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum (JCCP) and ADNOC Refining.

Both sides stressed the importance of promoting joint scientific research and business cooperation to address water challenges including by ensuring water quality, water use efficiency, sustainable water desalination, water reprocessing and waste disposal.

6. Defence Cooperation Both sides welcomed recent defence exchanges between the two countries and expressed their desire to promote further cooperation and exchanges.

Both sides acknowledged the importance of holding security dialogues in a constant manner to deepen mutual understanding between the two countries and to enhance expertise in the security field.

Both sides affirmed the importance of increasing cooperation in the field of defence equipment and technology of common interest and working together for establishing a framework to further promote defence cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Defence Cooperation and Exchanges between the respective defence authorities.

7. Aviation Cooperation Both sides acknowledged the holding of rounds of negotiations between the Aviation Authorities of Japan and the UAE and the recent consultations held in Tokyo in April 2018, and expressed their expectations for further progress of the negotiations, which will contribute to the economies and ties of the two countries.

8. Consular Issues Both side welcomed the great relationship between their peoples. Japan appreciates the UAE’s visa-on-arrival procedures for Japanese citizens to enter the UAE, and the UAE welcomed the Government of Japan’s decision to implement pre-registration for the UAE’s ordinary passport holders to enter Japan.

Both sides will keep working together and intensify their efforts with aim to further ease such procedures, including pre-registration in order to further facilitate the travel of their nationals between the two countries. 9. Security Cooperation Both sides acknowledged their determination to further contribute to achieve peace, stability and prosperity in the world, particularly in Asia and the Middle East.

Both sides reiterated the importance of promoting exchanges, training and information sharing among relevant authorities in the security field. Both sides condemned terrorism and extremism in all forms and expressed their shared commitment to cooperating to fight against terrorism and violent extremism at the global level.

Both sides also stressed the importance of promoting cooperation to combat transnational organised, crime including money laundering, drugs, narcotics smuggling and human trafficking.

10. Medical Cooperation Both sides expressed their intention to further cooperate in advanced medical fields, including radiation treatment and provision of medical facilities to UAE nationals with care and therapies and decided to share information on treatment of non-communicable diseases between the two countries.

11. Cooperation in Fields of Agriculture and Food Security Both sides stressed the importance of promoting dialogues in order to advance the mutual goals of food security. Both sides also reaffirmed the importance of cooperation in the innovative agricultural technology, including, but not limited to, water-saving farming and new greenhouse technology.

12. Women's Empowerment Both sides reiterated their desire to intensify cooperation in women’s empowerment including through Japan-UAE women career exchange, promotion of dialogue on women-related issues and through the World Assembly for Women (WAW!) hosted by Japan.