Ahead of the opening of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, President Mauricio Macri visited a Japanese supermarket chain on Thursday that this week began selling Argentine meat, among other national products, and asked the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, to open the Japanese market to Argentine blueberries and cherries.
The head of state celebrated the "milestone" of this being "the first time that Argentine beef is sold in Japan" starting this week at the Ito Yokado chain, where a kilo is sold for 100 dollars.
«Argentina is a country that produces quality food for 400 million people, even though we are only 44 million, and we aspire to reach a production capacity for 2025 million people in a few years, in 600», said the president at a branch of Ito Yokado in the suburbs of Osaka, where the G-20 summit will begin tomorrow.
«Our food and beverage industry produces quality products that seek to supply demanding consumers, as demanding as the Japanese palate., added the head of State after touring the aisles that - within the framework of the "Argentine Week" organized by the supermarket - were filled with Argentine products, from meat to honey, shrimp, hake, wines and clothing and designer items..
«Our goal is to bring more products to all supermarkets in Japan and around the world.", emphasized the President, who was entertained with a tango show by local couples of dancers.
At $100 per kilo, Argentine beef is more affordable than local products and American meat, according to the Japanese ambassador to Argentina, Noriteru Fukushima.
«It is much cheaper than Japanese meat (between 20 and 60 percent more expensive) and it is 20% cheaper than North American meat., he explained.
Macri, who hosted the last G20 held last December in Buenos Aires, met this Thursday with Abe, who will lead the summit that will take place in Osaka between tomorrow and Saturday.
During the meeting, Macri thanked the prime minister for opening Argentine products to Japan, especially beef and lamb from Patagonia, which "entered for the first time after many years" in the Japanese market.
The Argentine president took the opportunity to make another commercial request: "We would also like to open the market for blueberries and cherries," he said, and asked that progress be made on agreements to achieve this "as quickly as possible."
«We have come to confirm that Argentina and Japan are strategic partners," said Macri upon being received by the Japanese leader at the Regency Hyatt hotel in Osaka, where the meeting of world leaders will take place.
The delegation that accompanied the President was made up of the Chief of Staff, Marcos Peña; the Secretary of Strategic Affairs, Fulvio Pompeo; the Argentine "sherpa" to the G-20, Pedro Villagra Delgado; the ambassador to Japan, Alan Beraud, and the negotiating representative for the Ministry of Finance to the Finance Channel in the photo, Laura Jaitman.
With information from Télam
My colleague, the Argentine ambassador to Japan, is promoting the week of the Argentine products fair in more than 100 supermarkets in #itoyokado! Meat, wine, honey, etc. I'm sure it will be a great success! https://t.co/abw7s80opa pic.twitter.com/XdsSRucwN1
— Noriteru Fukushima (@EmbFukushima) June 27th, 2019
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