The emirate of Abu Dhabi attended its first World Expo in 1970 with the goal of building a relationship with Japan and the world. The Emirates is back in 2025, and in the last 55 years has signed comprehensive strategic partnerships, a visa-waiver pact for UAE nationals and is also holding negotiations for a free-trade agreement.
Abu Dhabi participated in the Osaka Expo before it became an official state in 1971. Under British governance, the emirate had to negotiate its attendance given that only countries were allowed to participate.
Its offering was much less back then. Abu Dhabi had 60,000 Bahrani dinars ($159,000) at the time to build a replica of a traditional fort with a new concept of barajils (wind towers), and it served Arabic coffee.
Shihab Al Faheem, the UAE's ambassador to Japan, said his country has reached major milestones since then.
“We're very excited because we're coming back after participating under Abu Dhabi emirate in 1970. We come back as the UAE in 2025,” he told The National at the Expo in Osaka.
The UAE returns as the Arab world's second largest economy and after hosting the last World Expo in Dubai. A delegation lead by Ahmed Al Zaabi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, held discussions at the UAE pavilion to expand the country's long-standing partnership with Japan.
“Today, we have a focus on three items: Space, health care and sustainability,” he said. Mr Al Faheem said that this was a long way from 1970 expo, when the first mobile phone was introduced.
The UAE and Japan have been boosting partnerships in recent years. The UAE Space Agency hosted workshops with experts from both nations and in 2023 the countries signed agreements on technology and greenhouse gas credits.
The culmination of these goals, said the ambassador, has been given its own tag line.
“We call it Earth to ether, showing where we started and where our ambitions are going,” he said, which is demonstrated in the pillars of its pavilion.
Its foundation is built using sustainable practices with 90 columns created from palm tree fronds.
“We've used two million [fronds] which usually go to waste,” Mr Al Faheem said. “Plus two UAE companies started a new method of making blocks.” That method involved the use of recyclable waste materials from dates, he added.
“The date has always been our home, our shelter, our food. Now we're reincorporating it back into this pavilion to showcase that this is where our roots are, and to show also what we can come out with at Expo,” he said.
Future expansion
The UAE has always been a reliable partner to Japan on energy security, according to Mr Al Faheem.
The UAE is looking for more stability and open trade by expanding its 21 existing comprehensive economic partnership agreements, especially given the global economic uncertainty caused by the tariffs introduced by the US administration of President Donald Trump.
“We are now negotiating the same with Japan, and it's the right time to do something like this because we've seen the effects with different countries,” he said. Removing barriers will allow the UAE to move even faster with Japan, encouraging non-oil trade growth.
“Non-oil [trade] was around $13.3 billion in 2021, last year, it was $17.3 billion,” Mr Al Faheem said. “Overall, it's more than $49 billion.”
Events encouraging business exchange, such as Abu Dhabi's Investopia last year, and an event called Sushi Tech in Tokyo this week, where about 20 UAE companies will display their offerings, have also proven effective.
Mr Al Faheem said the UAE has eased entry for small and medium sized businesses with measures including sandboxes that allow companies to test out new technology and push boundaries that provide solutions for the future. This is attracting interest from Japanese businesses.
“We have 350 [Japanese] companies, and we have the largest number of Japanese citizens in all of Mena. Around 6,200 Japanese call the UAE home, this is in comparison to around 100 in 1980. So it's a huge jump,” he said.
Old with the new
Mr Al Faheem, who has travelled to all 47 prefectures of Japan, said the UAE and Japan share important similarities as advanced countries with strong ties to their traditions.
Japan has gone through a phase of industrial revolution while keeping its values, he said, referencing the country's rapid transformation after the Meiji restoration in 1868, similar to the UAE's transformation since 1971.
“This gives us a lot of insight on how we changed as an economy, as infrastructure, but remain the same as people,” Mr Al Faheem said.
“To me, this is a very important aspect that we keep our traditions just like you see here with the pavilion.”
A small-scale model of the pavilion from 1970 served as a reminder of the UAE's transformation.
“In 1970 when we came, we wanted to be on the global stage,” he said. “Today we want to be part of the decision making around the globe.”
This is why the UAE is playing a bigger role when it comes to AI, using technology, and so much more, he added.
With the pavilion itself, Mr Al Faheem said, “you see our humble beginnings and also where we've reached”.
