The trade exchange between the UAE and Japan grew by 6 % to AED146.54 billion ($39.93 billion) in the first nine months of this year compared with AED137.7 billion ($37.52 billion) in the same period last year, Gulf Today reported. The UAE is Japan’s second major trade partner in the Middle East and North Africa after Saudi Arabia with a share amounting to around 28.7 % of Japan’s total trade with the region in the first nine months of this year. According to the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), the UAE exports to Japan grew by 5 % to AED121.15 billion ($33.01 billion) in the first three seasons of this year compared with around AED115.24 billion ($31.4 billion) in the corresponding period last year. The UAE comes in the second place in the region among the major exporters to Japan with a share of 28 % of Japan’s total imports from the region over the first nine months of this year. The UAE imports from Japan grew by around 13 % to AED25.4 billion ($6.92 billion) in the first three seasons of this year compared with AED22.46 billion ($6.12 billion) in the corresponding period last year. The UAE share of Japan’s total exports to the countries of the region over the said period reached 33.33 %, placing the UAE in the second place among the major markets of Japanese exports in the region. The surplus in the UAE balance of trade with Japan grew by around 3 % to AED95.75 billion ($26.09 billion) in the said period compared with AED92.78 billion ($25.28 billion) in the first nine months of 2013.