(Abu Dhabi) – UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs H.H Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed held talks with the visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba in Abu Dhabi.
Addressing to reporters in a joint press conference Sheikh Abdullah described the talks with the visiting Japanese officials as “an opportunity to discuss issues of common concern. We discussed the situation in Palestine, Yemen, Somalia, Iran and Afghanistan, piracy, anti-proliferation efforts. The agenda of the talks was rich and reflects the strong relations between the two countries”. His Highness added that UAE is the second largest exporter of energy to Japan and the trade exchange is worth around US$ 35 billion.
The Japanese FM said, “We held discussions with the Emiratis on issues such as the situation in the Middle East, GCC and in this context, we agreed on discussing cooperation and efforts to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement between Japan and the GCC”.