DUBAI - Japanese contractors are owed billions of dollars by Dubai developers and the government, UAE daily the National reported on Sunday, citing a top Japanese diplomat and leading contractors.Japanese firms, which have worked on some of Dubai's biggest projects such as the metro and Palm islands, face non-payment on contracts that date back years in some cases, the newspaper reported.
“Some Japanese construction companies are facing very serious debt problems as Dubai can’t pay,” Seiichi Otsuka, the Japanese consul general in Dubai, was quoted as saying.
“Some companies engaged with the construction of the Metro are facing some payment issues."
Contractors facing payment problems include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Taisei Corp, the National reported.
MHI leads a consortium of five contractors, including four Japanese companies, building the metro's Red and Green lines.
“MHI executed the construction of the Dubai Metro and some other contracts and we are still awaiting payment,” Koji Okamoto, general manager of the Middle East office of MHI in Dubai, told the newspaper.
The company’s contracts in the Middle East are worth $150 billion, the paper said.