Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has signed a strategic partnership with Japan's Mizuho Financial Group. It gives up to 6,000 of Mizuho's start-up clients market entry support through the DIFC Innovation Hub and access to DIFC's Ignyte platform.
According to the Dubai Media Office announcement on 4 November, the agreement was signed by Arif Amiri, CEO of DIFC Authority, and Suneel Bakhshi, Deputy Group CEO of Mizuho, in the presence of DIFC Governor Essa Kazim. The aim is to speed up innovation, deepen UAE and Japan economic ties and help Japanese start-ups grow internationally.
Under the deal, up to 6,000 of Mizuho's start-up clients can tap the DIFC Innovation Hub for market entry and soft landing support in Dubai. Eligible companies can also use Ignyte, DIFC's digital innovation platform, which offers investor and corporate connections, mentoring and ecosystem programmes. Mizuho said it has provided about JPY 1 trillion of financing to Japanese start-ups over the past three years and has more than 400 specialists supporting them across the group.
DIFC is home to the UAE's only cluster of Japanese financial services firms: 19 companies, including Mizuho Bank, SMBC, MUFG Bank, Nomura and JBIC, employing 560 people. The DIFC Innovation Hub hosts more than 1,300 active firms in areas such as fintech, AI and Web3. Arif Amiri noted that DIFC has been welcoming Japanese companies for 20 years.
The UAE is Japan's largest trading partner in the GCC and takes 52 percent of Japan's exports to the region. The announcement says UAE investment in Japan has doubled over the past five years, and the two countries are working towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. More companies and professionals arriving in Dubai's financial centre also adds to demand for offices and homes around DIFC.
المصدر: Dubai Media Office
