Welcome to the JCCME website:

As you are well aware of, Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME) was established in 1973 in the midst of “First Oil Crisis,” with the objective of enhancement of the cooperation in the industrial economic development and trade promotion of oil and gas producing countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, thereby promoting international cooperation in trade and economy between Japan and the MENA countries.

Since then, over the past half century, JCCME has worked to build multilayered relationships with the MENA countries successfully, having centered on supporting for Japanese companies’ endeavors of investment and human resource development. Also, JCCME has provided support to many Japanese companies in the areas of providing information on the investment environment, dispatching missions to study local industries, conducting business feasibility studies, training, technical guidance and human resource development. We would, therefore, like to express our deepest gratitude to our associate members as well as all those who involved in the public and private sectors for their kind support in various ways.

More than 10 years have passed since the upheaval of “the Arab Spring,” and MENA countries are experiencing tremendous changes in the political and social situation, such as the normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel by the United Arab Emirates and other countries, and various developments surrounding Iran. In addition, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have declared themselves carbon neutrality, respectively, and several MENA countries are actively working to combat climate change, by means of the introduction of renewable energy, the development of decarbonized energy and so on.

Cooperative relations between the MENA countries and Japan have evolved in recent years to include not only economic areas such as investment and business expansion, but also comprehensive cooperation in areas such as the environment and climate change, infrastructure development, education, culture and healthcare.

At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to price spikes of crude oil and natural gas, and the energy market was in an extremely destabilized situation with tight supply and demand and disruption of supply system. Therefore, it now becomes absolutely imperative to secure a stable supply of energy at affordable prices.

It is firmly believed that the movement to promote climate change countermeasures and various initiatives for comprehensive cooperation in the MENA countries represent new business opportunities for both the MENA countries and Japan, and the MENA countries have become more important than ever for the energy security of our countries and the development of Japanese companies.

In this drastically changing situation in the MENA countries, we will do our utmost endeavors to contribute to the further developments of the MENA countries and also Japanese companies, through our investment support projects and so on, which we believe would be ultimately beneficial to secure the stable supply of energy to Japan. Accordingly, we are determined to continuously play our role as a “catalyst” between the MENA countries and Japan, and between the public and private sectors.

We sincerely appreciate your kind support and guidance.