By RD Velasco / Market Innovation Division, DTI-EMB
Fifteen food companies from the Philippines will participate in the World Food and Beverage Great Expo Kansai 2019 to be held at the International Exhibition Center (Intex) in Osaka, from October 16 to 18, 2019. Fabex, Kansai is the largest general trade fair for commercial food, cooking ingredients and equipment in Japan.
Philippines will showcase healthy foods, such as banana chips, mushroom chips and fruit chews, fresh coconut water, calamansi (Philippine lime) drink and other fruit extracts, muscovado, or raw sugar, as well as biscuits, peanut spread, bottled sardines and other coconut products.
After Fabex, the mission will proceed to Tokyo for business-matching meetings with Japanese buyers at the Philippine Embassy on October 21, 2019.
The mission is being organized through collaboration by the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), through the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), the Philippine Trade and Investment Centers in Osaka and Tokyo, and the Department of Agriculture-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service.
In 2018, Japan was the second major trading partner of the Philippines and second-biggest export market with total bilateral trade valued at $21.14 billion. The Philippines also has two free-trade agreements with Japan, one bilateral through the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, and one multilateral through the Asean-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. These FTAs provide Philippine products duty-free access to more or less 7,476 product lines from the Philippines, including food products. DTI-Trade Promotions Group Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman said “I am encouraging our exporters to take advantage of the benefits under our two trade agreements with Japan.”
For more information about the mission, contact RafaelitaCastro@dti.gov.ph in the Philippines, EmmanuelAng@dti.gov.ph in Osaka, Japan, and KennethYap@dti.gov.ph in Tokyo, Japan.