Dubai: Trade between Japan and the UAE is picking up again, according to a report released by the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) yesterday.
Trade between the two countries dropped 48 per cent to $29.2 billion (Dh107 billion) in 2009 compared to $57.2 billion in 2008. The first quarter of 2010 recorded a 12.8 per cent increase in Japan's exports to the UAE and a 55.4 per cent increase in imports from the UAE compared to the same time last year, the report said.
Sentiment
"We are optimistic about the future because the sentiment is going up in Japan when it comes to the recovery.
"So in general, Japanese exports to the world will increase but that will depend on the current condition or situation of the economy in the world," Jetro's Managing Director Hiroki Matsumoto told Gulf News yesterday.
While Japan's exports to the UAE are dominated by transport machinery and mechanical equipment, with almost 73 per cent of exports, Japan's imports from the UAE are dominated by mineral fuels covering 99 per cent of imports.
A recent report by the UAE's National Bureau of Statistics on the UAE's economic situation for 2009 reported that the value of exports and re-exports of oil products stood at $69.9 billion in 2009.
The value of mineral fuels exported to Japan from the UAE was $22.5 billion in 2009, which is almost 32 per cent of the total crude oil exports value.
For the first quarter of 2010, the value of imports from the UAE grew to $7,291 million with the value of crude oil imports surging by 72 per cent to $5,640 million, and of non-ferrous metal products, including aluminium alloys and related products by 179 per cent to $63 million, the report stated.
"This value is totally dependent on the price of the oil, but the amount and quantity would not be changing much," Matsumoto said.
"In the long run, Japan like many other countries, is making effort to reduce its use of oil."
While the amount would not change in the next two years, it is ultimately what Japan wants to do, he said.
