The development underscores Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi’s strategy of strengthening and expanding Uber’s footprint through partnerships.

On Thursday, Uber Technologies announced, it would be launching an app for taxis operating in Nagoya, Japan. The development comes in the wake of the U.S. firm trying to expand and strengthen its foothold in the country.

Incidentally, Japan had earlier blocked Uber from offering its own ride sharing services in the country.

Uber said, it was collaborating with Fuji Taxi Group, which has operated in the Nagoya area for more than 60 years.

Nagoya is located near the heart of Japan’s automaking heartland.

The development comes in the wake of Uber announcing a similar announcement it made in 2017 wherein it launched a taxi-hailing app as a pilot project in Awaji, Japan – an island which has a population of around 150,000.

Uber has been unable to provide its full array of ride-sharing services in Japan as local regulations have banned non-professional drivers from transporting paying customers.

Incidentally, last month, Nagoya-headquartered Toyota Motor Corp stated, it would invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars in a bid aimed at catching up with rivals.