Welcome message by Ambassador Shihab ALFAHEEM

Dear Friends,

I am honored to represent my country as the Ambassador of UAE to Japan. I arrived here at the end of 2020 and looking forward to my mission.

I have lived in Japan previously between 2003-2004 and I am glad to be back in Japan. Next year, UAE and Japan will celebrate 50 years of Diplomatic Relations. 

The relationship goes even further when our first shipment of crude oil went to Japan in 1961. Japanese companies were able to secure oil concessions in the UAE at the end of 1967.

This relationship has grown to different fields from economy to culture and space. This year, both our countries host big international events: Tokyo Olympics 2020 and EXPO Dubai 2020. We look forward to receive visitors from around the world and hope to have visitors from Japan attend the Japan Day during EXPO which falls on December 11 2021. 

As Ambassador, I extend my sincere gratitude to the leadership and people of both of our countries.

I am here to do my best to further elevate this important and historic relationship. Looking at the rapid transformation of Japan after the MEIJI restoration in 1868 and the UAE’s similar transformation since 1971, I can only say that we have a very similar will and spirit to advance our countries and hope to share our best practices and experiences.

COVID-19 has been a very tough challenge for the whole world, but we always look at the silver lining in such situations. 

The UAE has managed to weather the challenge by focusing on intensive testing and a strong vaccination campaign that made it one of the highest in the world in terms of vaccinations per 100 people. We also helped more than 135 countries by sending more than 1,800 tons of medical supplies and protective equipment. 

We believe that together only we will be able to get through this pandemic.