Tokyo meets the world: United Arab Emirates

My first year in Japan was actually from 2003 to 2004, when I worked for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. They wanted to send people to Japan to study Japanese, and that was a chance I wouldn’t miss. I spent half a year in Beppu, Oita and half a year in Tokyo. Returning [for the ambassadorship] felt like coming back home, coming back to a country I know.

In the UAE, we all grew up watching Japanese animation – dubbed into Arabic – and immersed in Japanese culture. We had this image of a highly advanced nation, since we were comparing Japan to ourselves and seeing how Japan had managed to progress so fast. I saw the lights and the glitz my first time here, but coming back it was nice to notice how [the UAE] has caught up and how far we ourselves have come as a country. 

The impression of Japan being way more advanced than anywhere else is true in a way, but at the same time, the traditional things are what keep Japan what it is – and what keep visitors coming back.

When I went to the Imperial Palace to submit my credentials, I started in the midst of Tokyo’s hustle and traffic, but the moment I entered the palace [grounds] things changed. I was in this big limousine and had to look out the window to make sure I was still in the city. It was very serene, very quiet – something I hadn’t experienced in Tokyo before. I like the area around the Imperial Palace, especially since it’s so quiet and for the running and cycling opportunities.

[The UAE embassy] is close to Omotesando, so it’s always nice to go to Yoyogi Park or Omotesando for a walk, run or some cycling. Sometimes I have a meeting in Ginza and just decide to walk back, which is about nine kilometers. I like to cycle too, and sometimes do around 25 kilometres in the morning and another 25 at night. Cycling in Tokyo is very nice, though the traffic is a bit…[laughs].

As for escaping Tokyo, I get on a train or in a car on the weekends and just head out. One of my favourite destinations nearby is Nikko. I take my bike and cycle from Lake Chuzenji all the way to the onsen and then down again. It’s a nice change in climate, since [Nikko] is often 10 to 15 degrees cooler than Tokyo.

I’m really looking forward to having tourists back. Since I arrived in December 2020, I haven’t experienced tourists coming in and going out, but I hope things will change as we see further improvement in the Covid situation and Japan becomes one of the most vaccinated countries in the G7.

Looking at the tourist numbers, Japan received 10 million visitors in 2010, but promotional efforts since then saw an increase to 30 million in 2019. The forecast was 40 million by the Olympics, but then the pandemic happened. But I know tourism will bounce back. One of my daily jobs is to answer phone calls from people who want to come to Japan. “When is Japan opening?” is the question everyone asks, which speaks to how many fans of Japan there are in my country and around the world.

This is the third time that the Expo and Olympics fall on the same year, and the first time that both got postponed. With Expo Dubai, we wanted to send a message of hope to the world, relaying that things are back to normal. We saw the pressure Tokyo had to endure [in the run-up to the Olympics], but it was great that Tokyo took the bold decision [of holding the Games]. The success of the Tokyo Olympics built up to the success of Expo Dubai.

We’re hoping to receive 25 million visitors by the end of the Expo period [in March 2022]. We’ve seen eagerness from all the participating countries, and in the first six weeks got 3.5 million visitors to the Expo. And things truly are back to normal: travel restrictions have been lifted [for those who are vaccinated], and between January and October 2021, 20.5 million travellers passed through Dubai Airport, which can do 100,000 PCR tests per day, while Abu Dhabi Airport can do 20,000. We administer 300,000 PCR tests per day in the UAE and get less than 60 daily cases of Covid.

We also have a nationwide application called the Alhosn, which is used for entering various venues. If you’re planning on visiting the UAE, you take your vaccination certificate, upload it, and then download this app to your phone. Your certificate from Japan will be reflected and can be used throughout the UAE. 

Our borders are open and have been for a while, which is why I get all those calls about when Japan will reopen.

We’re celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Japan next year. Our relationship is very close, not least because we have similar histories. Japan moved from a feudal system to an industrialized country in 50 years following the Meiji Restoration, while the UAE has also developed rapidly in terms of infrastructure, health, education and so on [since its founding in 1971]. 

Both Japan and the UAE have announced goals of zero carbon emissions by 2050. Though we are an oil-producing country, we want to play a big role in this. Our leadership has announced that we want to celebrate the shipment of our last barrel of oil, which requires preparations from today.

We have been cooperating with Japan on the move into renewables since 2007. We have the largest single-site solar power plant in the world, and the cost of solar power [in the UAE] is 1.35 cents per kilowatt – the cheapest in the world. We’re looking at around 36 percent of our energy coming from clean sources. 

Japan has kept coal in its energy mix, but it’s also working to add ammonia and hydrogen to offset its emissions and become carbon neutral. This is where we come in: we’ve signed agreements to supply Japan with hydrogen and ammonia, which Japan has the technology for. In addition, we’ve been capturing and storing carbon since 2013, for a total of about 800,000 tons, which is like taking 200,000 cars off the road. We want to achieve a six-fold increase in that by 2030.

Furthermore, last year we sent our own Mars probe – the first interplanetary probe by an Arab or Muslim country – into space together with Japan, launching it on a Japanese rocket from Tanegashima [in Kagoshima]. 

Our national oil company is moving towards using nuclear and solar power exclusively starting in January 2022, which would chop off almost one third of our emissions and bring us closer to our zero carbon goal. We’ve opened a nuclear power plant, the first in the region; two of its four reactors are already online. Once the entire plant is operational, it amounts to taking 3.2 million cars off the road. 

Emissions reduction is not only about reducing the use of oil. We have already planted lots of mangroves and plan to plant even more in the next five years. Mangrove forests capture more carbon per hectare than rainforests, and they also look good and are helpful for biodiversity.

The UAE has participated in energy projects in more than 30 countries. Our energy-related investment portfolio covers over 50 gigawatts, including a renewable-energy fund in the Caribbean, thereby supporting the world [in its efforts to decarbonize]. As for Japan, I believe the prospects are bright; both because Japan has the technology for renewable energy and because of the Japanese mentality to push forward when the going gets tough.