Nukaga calls for UAE to expand investment in Japan

ABU DHABI, July 17 Kyodo - Visiting Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga on Wednesday met with Obaid Humaid Al-Tayer, state minister for financial affairs of the United Arab Emirates, and called for the Middle Eastern country to expand its investment in
Japan.

Nukaga explained to the UAE minister that the Japanese government is set to
relax regulations later this year so that banking groups in Japan can offer Islamic finance services, Japanese officials said.

The two ministers also exchanged views on the outlook for crude oil output and
price levels, and reaffirmed Japan's cooperation in helping the oil-producing
country to develop new sources of energy, such as solar power, they said.

Earlier in the day, Nukaga held talks with a senior official of the Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and
called for it to invest in Japan.

Executives of major Japanese financial institutions including the Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., who are traveling with
Nukaga, also made a pitch for increased investment by the UAE in Japan.
Nukaga is on a weeklong trip to the Middle East and Central Asia from Tuesday.
He will also visit Kuwait and Uzbekistan.
==Kyodo