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UAE President Sheikh Mohamed’s forthcoming visit to Japan will be an important step in enhancing high tech and artificial intelligence co-operation between the two countries, a conference in Washington heard on Friday.
Amane Kobayashi, a senior researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics in Japan, reflected on the country’s aspirations to have more strategic relationships with Gulf countries during a round-table discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute.
“This could create very important momentum for Japan,” he said, adding that Japan could help “serve as a hub” to create a more resilient global AI supply chain.
Mr Kobayashi also pointed out that Japan’s experience with energy sustainability and decarbonisation technology could help assist Gulf countries as well.
Sheikh Mohamed is expected to visit Japan from February 8 to 10, having previously visited five times, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Both the UAE and Japan are members of Pax Silica alliance, a US-led initiative consisting of “trusted partners” hoping to bolster supply chains considered increasingly important to AI and overall technology development.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, recently visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Although not necessarily considered among the front-runners in AI, Japan, no stranger to the technology sector, has managed to punch above its weight in recent years.
Stanford’s 2025 Global Vibrancy Tool ranks the country in ninth place, just behind Germany and ahead of Singapore in terms of AI vibrancy.
Another analysis from Stanford places Japan in second place for robotics, behind China and ahead of the US, while also placing Japan ninth globally for newly funded AI companies.
Meanwhile, the UAE has sought to be a leader in AI throughout the last decade, and a recent Microsoft report on AI adoption placed it at No 1.
Mr Kobayashi said that existing partnerships between entities in the UAE and Japan will make it easier for both countries to enhance co-operation.
“Japan’s SoftBank has been co-operating with Abu Dhabi’s G42,” he said, referring to the UAE’s construction of what will eventually be one of the world’s largest data centres.
Mohammed Soliman, a technology analyst and senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told the round-table discussion there are opportunities as the US, Japan and Gulf countries seek to enhance technology co-operation.
“This is a new Gulf, this is a new Japan and this is a new era for US and Japanese relationship,” he said, adding that many Gulf governments are hitting their stride when it comes to diversifying economies away from oil.
Unlike in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Mr Soliman said many Japanese officials want their country to “shape the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific landscape”.
He said the US no longer just looks to Gulf countries “to raise capital”, but rather as strategic partners to help secure minerals for tech supply chains and to help build out AI infrastructure.
Mr Soliman, who recently authored West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East, said that former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s vision for the country’s interactions in the Gulf continue to permeate.
“Abe got something that the Gulf also fundamentally understands: power nowadays is about networks, not old-school blocs,” Mr Solimon emphasised.
“Japan’s role in the Gulf is proof that the Gulf’s rise is hardwired into Asia’s own rebalancing.”