On the margins of Adipec, Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, met with Takayuki Ueda, president and chief executive of Japanese energy giant Inpex, as the two nations aim to strengthen energy connections. They talked about energy security, clean energy transition, and how to speed up the development of low-carbon energy alternatives.
Since 1973, Inpex has been a partner of the Abu Dhabi energy corporation Adnoc, and it now owns onshore and offshore concession agreements. In addition, the Japanese corporation was a founding partner in the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) commodities market, which will open in March 2021. Japan, the world's fourth largest oil importer, has been striving to strengthen its energy security by engaging into long-term liquefied natural gas deals and incorporating more renewable resources into its total energy mix.
The two countries have also been strengthening bilateral ties across other sectors. In July, the UAE and Japan signed 23 agreements and initial pacts during a forum aimed at bolstering economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries in the fields of energy, industry, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, space, health, transport, environmental conservation and circular economy, as per thenationalnews.
According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, Japan will be the UAE's eighth largest worldwide trading partner in 2022, and the fourth largest among non-Arab Asian nations. Last year, total commerce between the two nations was $51.7 billion, with non-oil trade exchange reaching $14.7 billion, with $12 billion in non-oil imports to the UAE.