The burgeoning economies of China and a number of Asia Pacific countries are becoming key trading partners for the GCC and the wider Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) region.  According to IHS Global Insight, the economics analyst, future growth depends on how quickly the GCC countries can diversify and embrace Asia, noting: “They have been quick so far. We will see how it continues.”

Abdul Latif Jameel has long been a pioneer in developing trade links between the Middle East and Asia, capitalizing on a diversity of macro-economic opportunities.  Our long-standing relationship in the Asia Pacific region with Toyota Motor Corporation dates back to 1955 and we even own and operate a Lexus dealership in Tokyo, which is a unique distinction for a foreign company operating in the Japanese car market.

In China, we operate 12 Toyota and Lexus dealerships – Toyota since 1998 and Lexus since 2012 – and we have operated the distributorship for the Komatsu Japanese heavy equipment brand in Saudi Arabia since 2013.

Our roots in Japan were embedded in 1996, when we established our own general trading company in Tokyo (Abdul Latif Jameel General Trading Co Ltd), and we have an equally long-standing relationship with Japanese company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) which is responsible for our vehicle shipping logistics from Japan to the Middle East.

Early in 2014, we expanded the remit of our Tokyo office and added an experiential Visitors’ Center to promote a greater understanding of the business potential and investment opportunities to be found in the MENAT region and its countries.

This center is part of an ongoing strategy to increase partnerships in the ‘East-to-East’ trade route and features a series of interactive touch screen podiums that detail the almost 70-year history of the Abdul Latif Jameel Group, along with socio-economic profiles of each MENAT country.

For more information about our experiential Visitors’ Center, please read the full article here.