Japan boosts trade ties with Vietnam   (VOV) -Nearly 100 Japanese businesses have attended a Vietnam forum on trade and investment promotion in the agro-fishery sector, showing their keen interest in cooperation with Vietnam. The event, held in Chiba prefecture on March 4 by the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, aimed to introduce Vietnamese products and attract investment from Japanese enterprises in the field. Addressing the forum, Nguyen Trung Dung, Trade Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, affirmed over the years, agro-aquatic and seafood cooperation between Vietnam and Japan has been swelling, boosting the economies of both countries. He said cooperation between the two countries in such field is mutually beneficial, contributing to the application of advanced technology in cultivation, production and agricultural and aquatic products processing. It directly translates into increased crop yields and profits, facilitating Vietnam in meeting production quotas for the domestic market of more than 90 million consumers and demand for exports as well. To Thi Tuong Lan, Deputy Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), discussed the opportunities and challenges in fisheries trade of Vietnam and Japan. She said Japan is Vietnam’s third largest seafood supplier, accounting for 7.8% of the market share, while Vietnam ranked 8th among countries providing aquatic products to Japan, making up 9% of the market share in 2012. From 1993 to 2011, Japan was the largest single market for Vietnam's aquatic sector with an average proportion of 26% of seafood export turnover each year. This is also a great opportunity for Vietnam's fruit growers to seek and penetrate the Japanese market, said Nguyen Thanh Binh, General Director of the Vietnam Vegetexco. He said some Vietnamese fruits including Hoa Loc mango, Chin Hoa durian, Nam Roi grapefruit, and dragon fruit, made well-known brands in the Japanese market. Binh stressed that in order for Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable sector to find a niche in the Japanese market, Vietnam enterprises need to pay detailed attention to the quality of products based on Japan’s strict criteria. In 2013, Vietnam exported 1,000 tonnes of dragon fruit to Japan, meaning high-quality Vietnamese products are finding inroads into the market, he added. At the forum, Japanese companies such as Maple Food and Yasaka also shared their experience in investment in Vietnam’s agro-fishery sector. A representative from Yasaka Company considered technology transfer to Vietnam in fruit and agricultural products preservation as the key to conquering the Japanese market. VOV