Trade exchange recedes between Japan, UAE

The Japanese foreign trade organization has announced that Japan's trade with the United Arab Emirates receded by 25.3% in 1998, basically due to the decrease in oil prices.

In a report, the Japanese organization said the total volume of trade between the two countries reached US $11.1 billion in 1998, in comparison with US $14.9 billion in 1997, whereas Japan's exports to the UAE increased by 12% during 1998. Moreover, the total value of Japan's imports from the UAE decreased by 22.9% to US $8.3 billion from US $12.3 billion in the previous year.

The report attributed the main reason for recession to the decrease in the price of crude oil, which Japan imports from the UAE. Moreover, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries represented only 2% of Japan's total trade value with the world countries.