Japan and Hong Kong sign agreement to promote Japan’s food exports

TOKYO, Oct. 3 – Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) agreed on Oct. 2 to strengthen cooperation aimed at boosting Japan’s exports of food, farm and marine products to Hong Kong.

Agriculture minister Ken Saito and HKTDC Executive Director Margaret Fong signed a memorandum with additional clauses for cooperation, including promotion of Japanese cuisine, at the ministry in Tokyo the same day.

Hong Kong is the world’s largest exporter of Japanese food and agriculture products. The ministry and the council signed a memorandum on export promotion in 2012 to recover Japan’s exports which had been reduced after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident in 2011.

New elements are included in the latest memorandum, such as holding Japanese cooking classes in Hong Kong in a belief that efforts to spread Japanese cuisine would contribute to increasing sales of Japanese farm produce.

Saito said the memorandum represents a major step forward towards boosting Japan’s exports of farm products, while Fong said it would push the cooperative relationship between Japan and Hong Kong to a new level.

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