By Rachna Uppal
ABU DHABI (Reuters) -Japan&nbsp;and&nbsp;the United Arab Emirates&nbsp;agreed to cooperate on technology&nbsp;and&nbsp;climate&nbsp;change&nbsp;during&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit, his second stop in the region focused on securing energy supplies&nbsp;and&nbsp;promoting green technology.
Kishida met with Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Monday, during which they&nbsp;agreed to a new&nbsp;Japan-UAE&nbsp;innovation&nbsp;partnership,&nbsp;Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The partnership would include a new scheme to accelerate energy security, as well as a framework for the&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;to cooperate with&nbsp;and&nbsp;invest in&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;on chip&nbsp;and&nbsp;battery technology, according to the statement issued late on Monday.
The two leaders also adopted a joint statement on&nbsp;climate&nbsp;action, which said that both remain committed to the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050&nbsp;and&nbsp;acknowledged "the role of clean hydrogen&nbsp;and&nbsp;derivatives including ammonia in accelerating the energy transition".
State news agency WAM also said the two leaders discussed a comprehensive strategic partnership between the&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;and&nbsp;Japan. They signed several&nbsp;agreements covering different sectors, WAM added.
Kishida is expected to attend a&nbsp;UAE-Japan&nbsp;business forum later before travelling to major gas-producer Qatar on Tuesday, officials said.
Japan&nbsp;is actively developing greener&nbsp;and&nbsp;renewable energy technologies&nbsp;and&nbsp;aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. Kishida will also try to promote&nbsp;Japanese know-how as energy-producing countries have pledged to achieve a net zero transition, especially ahead of the COP28&nbsp;climate&nbsp;summit to be held in Dubai in November.
His&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;visit follows a stop in Saudi Arabia on Sunday in which Riyadh said it remained committed to securing oil supplies for&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;and&nbsp;would continue cooperating with Tokyo on clean hydrogen, ammonia&nbsp;and&nbsp;recycled carbon fuels.
Kishida&nbsp;and&nbsp;Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto ruler,&nbsp;agreed to launch "Manar" initiative, which will help countries around the world achieve their net zero transitions, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Monday.
Tokyo&nbsp;and&nbsp;Riyadh are also set to start a new strategic dialogue at the foreign minister level - a move both leaders welcomed in their summit meeting, according to a statement released by the&nbsp;Japanese foreign ministry on Monday.
"Both leaders&nbsp;agreed to further energise exchanges, which cover politics, diplomacy,&nbsp;and&nbsp;security, between the two countries," the statement said.
Japan&nbsp;and&nbsp;the six-country Gulf&nbsp;Cooperation&nbsp;Council (GCC) will in 2024 resume talks on a free trade&nbsp;agreement, said Hikariko Ono, press secretary for&nbsp;Japan's foreign ministry. The GCC is a six-nation regional union that comprises Saudi Arabia,&nbsp;UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman&nbsp;and&nbsp;Bahrain.
"We don't really have any target year to complete a negotiation," she said on Monday, adding that previous trade talks with the GCC were suspended in 2009.
State oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has previously said that&nbsp;Japan&nbsp;imports approximately 25% of its crude oil from the&nbsp;UAE, making it ADNOC's largest international importer of oil&nbsp;and&nbsp;gas products.
"The secure energy supply from the&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;has supported&nbsp;Japan's economic growth for many years," Kishida wrote in a piece published by&nbsp;UAE&nbsp;state news agency WAM on Sunday.
A senior official at&nbsp;Japan's foreign ministry told reporters this week that Kishida planned to discuss energy markets during his trip, while also aiming to offer&nbsp;Japanese technologies for net zero transition.
(Reporting by Rachna Uppal in Abu Dhabi&nbsp;and&nbsp;Sakura Murakami in Tokyo; Writing by&nbsp;Andrew Mills&nbsp;and&nbsp;Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Conor Humphries, David Evans, Alex Richardson&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jacqueline Wong)

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