The Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Miyazaki Masao is set to pay an official visit to Cambodia on July 19 to discuss works related to the export of agriculture products and to exchange experiences with relevant institutions.

This was revealed in a statement issued in conjunction with a meeting on the agricultural landscape, held between Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon and Japanese ambassador Masahiro Mikami on July 6.

In the statement, posted on Sakhon’s official Facebook page, the minister said Masao’s visit would be an opportunity for the agriculture ministries of both countries to discuss and exchange experiences as well as requests for technical support.

Other topics to be brought to the table are seed production and food processing – with a focus on cashew nuts, bananas and mangoes – along with the equipment and supporting infrastructure involved, and ways to build capacity and human resources in the area.

The statement said the minister would ask the Japanese side to look into the conditions for exporting mangoes and other agricultural products to Japan.

Sakhon thanked the government and the people of Japan for their support in Cambodia’s development – particularly in agriculture – especially through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which he said has on the whole uplifted the living conditions of Cambodians.

The ambassador spoke highly of Cambodia-Japan cooperation in agriculture, hailing 2022 as a special year where the premiers of both countries visited the other, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also set to attend the ASEAN Summit later this year, according to the statement.

Mikami remarked that next year marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries – established on January 9, 1953 – and voiced hope that bilateral cooperation would grow even stronger going forward.