Japan is looking at new ways to work with the UAE as the Gulf state makes rapid advances to become an AI and tech hub, a conference in Washington heard.
Amane Kobayashi, a senior researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics in Japan, reflected on the country's aspirations for more strategic relationships with Gulf nations during a 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 Gulf countries.
President Sheikh Mohamed is set to embark on a visit to Japan soon, according to Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Founding President Sheikh Zayed's visit in 1990 forged strong bonds between the two nations.
Both the UAE and Japan are members of Pax Silica alliance, a US-led initiative consisting of “trusted partners” hoping to strengthen 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 punched 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.
The UAE has sought to be a leader in AI throughout the last decade, and a recent Microsoft report on AI adoption placed it in first place.
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 be one of the world's largest data centres.
Mohammed Soliman, a technology analyst and senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told the 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 [the] 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 provide minerals for tech supply chains and to help build out AI infrastructure.
Mr Soliman, who recently published 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 said.
“Japan’s role in the Gulf is proof that the Gulf’s rise is hard-wired into Asia’s own rebalancing.”
