Japanese finance already has a foothold in the center. DIFC says it hosts the UAE's only cluster of Japanese financial services firms: 19 companies that together employ 560 people, the first of which arrived in 2005. They include Mizuho Bank Ltd, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, MUFG Bank, Ltd, Mitsui & Co. Middle East Limited, Mitsubishi Corporation, Nomura Singapore Limited, Nomura International plc and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority, said: “DIFC has a longstanding reputation for driving the financial services agenda between the UAE and Japan. For 20 years, we have welcomed Japanese companies to the DIFC ecosystem, and these organisations have found value in the world-class infrastructure, legal and regulatory clarity, diversified talent pool, and strategic gateway to the region that the Centre provides. This bond underpins wider bilateral economic relations between the two nations, further deepening our ties as the global economy navigates innovation, emerging technologies, and new paradigms of financial assets, leading to further knowledge exchange and cooperation.”
He added: “As the region's leading financial and innovation ecosystem, DIFC is uniquely positioned to connect global talent, capital and ideas. By enabling up to 6,000 Mizuho start-up clients to access the DIFC Innovation Hub and Ignyte ecosystem, we are creating a powerful platform for collaboration, innovation and growth that will benefit both countries and support the next generation of global businesses.”
On Mizuho's side, the startup business at home is sizeable. The bank says it has extended approximately $6.31 billion (JPY 1 trillion) in financing to Japanese startups over the past three years, backed by a group-wide team of more than 400 specialists.
Masahiko Ejima, Mizuho's Regional Head for Middle East, Africa, Turkey & Central Asia Caucasus, said: “At Mizuho, we believe that start-ups are a driving force behind future economic growth and innovation. Over the past three years, we have provided approximately JPY 1 trillion in financing to Japanese start-ups and built a dedicated team of more than 400 specialists across the Group to support their growth and ambitions. Our partnership with DIFC marks an important milestone in connecting Japanese entrepreneurship with global opportunities. By bringing together Japanese entrepreneurship and DIFC’s dynamic ecosystem, we believe this collaboration will unlock new opportunities for innovation, investment and sustainable growth, while enabling Japanese start-ups to broaden their ambitions across the region.”
With Mizuho Bank and other Japanese lenders already operating in DIFC, the arrangement could give founders a familiar first point of contact in Dubai.
The deal builds on a busy year of Japan-Gulf contact in Dubai. DIFC said it hosted the first Japan–Gulf Business & Investment Forum on January 14, organized with the Government of Japan, Japan Exchange Group, which runs the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Japan External Trade Organization and Japanese financial services firms for an audience of institutional investors, financial institutions, venture capital firms, startups and government officials.
Japan Exchange Group's own report on the forum said it was the first time the event had been held in the Middle East and that more than 100 people attended, among them representatives of sovereign wealth funds and hedge funds. Mizuho Securities was one of its sponsors, and the DIFC Authority was listed among the supporting organizations.
Regulators have also built links. In 2018, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and Japan's Financial Services Agency signed a cooperation framework that DIFC described as the basis for bilateral work in the financial sector. Six years earlier, the DFSA agreed terms of reference with Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and its Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to promote both sides' commodity derivatives markets.
The two countries have had diplomatic and trade relations for more than 50 years. DIFC said the UAE remains Japan's biggest trading partner in the GCC by imports and exports, taking 52% of Japan's exports to the bloc, while UAE investment in Japan has risen 100% in five years and the UAE accounts for 80% of Japanese investment in the Middle East.
Those flows now have a trade deal behind them. Japan and the UAE confirmed the conclusion of negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on March 5, 2026, with Japan securing tariff cuts on goods including automobiles, auto parts and steel, and both sides setting rules on digital trade, trade in services and intellectual property that Japan's trade ministry says will make it easier for Japanese companies to operate in the UAE.
