Japan eyes China, US, Hong Kong markets in bid to beef up farm exports
- Wagyu beef and sake are among items that will see a push in the global market as Japan seeks to boost its farm exports
- The country aims to more than double exports of its yellowtail fish by 2025, the bulk of that growth coming from the US, China and Hong Kong
Japan has drawn up an action plan to achieve its goal of boosting farm exports to 2 trillion yen (US$19 billion) by 2025, aiming to make products such as “Wagyu” beef and sake more competitive in the global market.
The action plan designates 27 key agricultural, fishery and forestry items, also including apples and other fruit as well as seafood such as yellowtail and scallops, and sets export targets to be achieved by that year.
It identifies specific markets where demand for the key items is high, and calls for efforts to better serve their needs.
“We will support the development of production areas that specifically cater to the needs of export market countries, and set up processing facilities that comply with the regulations of those countries,” Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in mid-December at a conference in Tokyo on the promotion of farm exports.
For example, the action plan calls for increasing beef exports from 29.7 billion yen in 2019 to 160 billion yen in 2025. Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States and the European Union are expected to be drivers of this growth.
