Japan is Taiwan’s largest fruit export partner, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said at the opening of the second annual Taiwan-Japan Fruit Summer Festival on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei yesterday.
As China has banned imports of some Taiwanese fruits in the past few years, including pineapples, sugar apples, wax apples, oranges and mangoes, the Ministry of Agriculture has been expanding export channels, leading to Japan becoming Taiwan’s largest export market last year, Chen said.
The festival is organized by the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, the ministry and the General Association of Chinese Culture.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The two-day event runs from 2pm to 6pm today on Ketagalan Boulevard, and on the north and south sides of the Presidential Office Plaza.
Chen said that the ministry has worked to expand fruit exports to high-end markets such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Canada.
The ministry is continuing to improve traceability management, disease prevention and inspection, and cold-chain transportation of Taiwanese fruit to increase its international compatibility, he said.
Last year, Taiwan exported 39,000 tonnes of fruit with an export value of NT$2.1 billion (US$65.93 million), with nearly 20,000 tonnes going to Japan, or nearly NT$1 billion in export value, he said.
As of last month, more than 15,000 tonnes were exported to Japan, which is about 77 percent of overall fruit exports in the first seven months of this year, he said.
The festival gives Taiwanese a chance to understand the special features and charm of agricultural development in Taiwan and Japan, as well as facilitating exchanges between dealers and farmers from both nations to learn from each other and exchange views, further deepening the friendship between the two sides, he said.
People should taste the Japanese fruit at the festival to help promote increased trade between the two nations, Chen said.
“The Taiwan-Japan Fruit Summer Festival is a grand gathering that symbolizes the good friendship Japan and Taiwan have,” said Hiroyasu Izumi, a representative of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, one of the festival’s organizers.
The festival is bigger this year that last year, with 41 vendors attending, Izumi said.
Many fruit that Japan and Taiwan can be proud of are presented at the festival for everyone to enjoy, he said.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) said that exporting Taiwan’s key agricultural products to high-end markets is an important goal.
Japan is Taiwan’s second-largest trade partner for agricultural products and the largest trade partner for fruit, he said.
The ministry is designing a fruit map to help Japanese easily find seasonal fruit when they visit Taiwan, he said.
Hopefully, it would contribute to better interactions between people of the two nations and the long-lasting friendship, he added.
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