WARTMAN RETURNS FROM ASIAN TRADE MISSION

Agriculture and Food Minister Mark Wartman today returned from a trade mission to Japan and China, calling the trip a success.

“There are tremendous agricultural export opportunities for Saskatchewan in the Asia-Pacific region,” Wartman said.  “The representatives we met with expressed a great deal of interest in the high quality products Saskatchewan’s agriculture and food industry has to offer.”

Wartman stressed the importance of building relationships with Asian government and business officials.

“Asian nations prefer dealing directly on the future development of trade opportunities,” Wartman said.  “Face to face meetings are extremely important, and from the discussions that took place, I see good, strong relationships that can lead to increased trade and investment for Saskatchewan producers and companies.”

During the mission, Wartman explored potential trade opportunities in grain, beef and pork exports; meat packing and processing; co-operative partnerships in agricultural research; pork and beef genetics; and ag biotechnology and biofuels.  He also met with the Canadian Wheat Board’s Tokyo and Beijing desks to discuss the important role the board plays in marketing and branding Canadian wheat around the world.

Japan, the world’s largest net importer of agri-food products, is a key market for Saskatchewan.  In 2005, the province exported approximately $486 million of agricultural products to Japan.  With an estimated population of 1.3 billion, China is also a priority market for Saskatchewan.  China is projected to become the world’s largest food and agri-products market within the next two decades and Saskatchewan has seen export growth in recent years.

A number of Saskatchewan businesses were also represented in the mission and held their own meetings to discuss trade and investment opportunities.

“Our commitment to the provincial agriculture industry is shown by our efforts to better understand the trade practices in Asian countries in trade missions like the one we have just completed,” Wartman said.  “This is a very important factor in dealing with future customers.

“I will be meeting with key industry representatives to follow up on the trade opportunities identified during our mission.”

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For more information, contact:

Donna Rehirchuk
Agriculture and Food
Regina
Phone: 306-787-2359
Email: drehirchuk@agr.gov.sk.ca