Home Local News IOWA TRADE MISSION RETURNS FROM JAPAN

IOWA TRADE MISSION RETURNS FROM JAPAN

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Governor Kim Reynolds, Ag Secretary Mike Naig, and Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham have returned from a 24-member trade mission delegation to Japan.

The mission focused on the food and ag industry to expand trade and investment opportunities.

The delegation left for Japan on November 8th and had stops in Yamanashi, Iowa’s sister state and Tokyo.

Mission highlights include meeting with Yamanashi Governor Kotaro Nagasaki, hosting a seminar about doing business in Iowa and meetings with existing industry representatives and investment prospects.

In 2018, Iowa companies exported $1.5 billion goods to Japan, Iowa’s third largest export destination and the leading export market for pork and beef products.

Iowa companies exported $537 million in meat products to Japan in 2018.

In addition, Japan is the second largest destination for Iowa corn – in 2018, Japan imported $491 million in Iowa corn.