04 November 2009
Japan is actively wooing the UAE sovereign wealth funds (SWF) in an aim to beef up its foreign direct investment from three per cent to five per cent by next year.
A senior official from Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), the state-backed trade and inward investment promotion agency, said the UAE was selected as one of the three most favoured emerging economies to attain the goal. The other two are Sao Paolo and Moscow.
"Jetro has conducted seminars to explain the Japanese investment opportunities to SWF people in the UAE such as Adia, Adic, Mubadala and others. And we continue the efforts to attract SWF to the Japanese markets," Kuniyasu Funaki, CEO of Jetro Dubai and Mena, told Emirates Business. He declined to give the probable amount of investments from the UAE but noted that they have received positive response.
"They express deep interest particularly in high technology venture capital business as well as real estate business," he said.
A handful of UAE sovereign funds have already begun flexing their muscles to the world's second largest economy next to the US.
Dubai International Capital, an investment firm owned by the Dubai Government, owns a "substantial stake" in Sony while Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment company has invested in the Japanese oil refining industry by purchasing a 21 per cent stake valued at $780 million (Dh2.86 billion) in the Cosmo Oil Company.
The pipeline of SWF activities, Funaki said, is expected to grow. "The Japanese economy is quite healthy and it has big growth potential due to the technology and know how provided by the Japanese."
Japan's FDI in relation to its GDP is only three per cent, far behind from the ratio its other developed peers have attained.
The UAE is the largest export market for Japan among the GCC states, with a share of 39.2 per cent of the market.
Japan is actively wooing the UAE sovereign wealth funds (SWF) in an aim to beef up its foreign direct investment from three per cent to five per cent by next year.
A senior official from Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), the state-backed trade and inward investment promotion agency, said the UAE was selected as one of the three most favoured emerging economies to attain the goal. The other two are Sao Paolo and Moscow.
"Jetro has conducted seminars to explain the Japanese investment opportunities to SWF people in the UAE such as Adia, Adic, Mubadala and others. And we continue the efforts to attract SWF to the Japanese markets," Kuniyasu Funaki, CEO of Jetro Dubai and Mena, told Emirates Business. He declined to give the probable amount of investments from the UAE but noted that they have received positive response.
"They express deep interest particularly in high technology venture capital business as well as real estate business," he said.
A handful of UAE sovereign funds have already begun flexing their muscles to the world's second largest economy next to the US.
Dubai International Capital, an investment firm owned by the Dubai Government, owns a "substantial stake" in Sony while Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment company has invested in the Japanese oil refining industry by purchasing a 21 per cent stake valued at $780 million (Dh2.86 billion) in the Cosmo Oil Company.
The pipeline of SWF activities, Funaki said, is expected to grow. "The Japanese economy is quite healthy and it has big growth potential due to the technology and know how provided by the Japanese."
Japan's FDI in relation to its GDP is only three per cent, far behind from the ratio its other developed peers have attained.
The UAE is the largest export market for Japan among the GCC states, with a share of 39.2 per cent of the market.
By Karen Remo-Listana
© Emirates Business 24/7 2009
