Hungary is being represented by 13 Hungarian companies at a separate stand at the FOODEX 20014 International Food and Beverage Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan. Deputy State Secretary for Food Chain Supervision and Agricultural Administration Lajos Bognár is attending the Expo in representation of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Mr. Bognár said that interest on the part of Japanese consumers in Hungarians food industry products had clearly increased in recent years. Japan is traditionally our most important eastern export market, and we see serious possibilities for dynamically increasing our exports of food industry and agricultural products to the island nation, he added.

The Deputy State Secretary stressed that Hungary has a positive import-export balance regarding trade with Japan, with exports increasing from 40 million euros to 87 million euros over the past five years. Our primary exports include pork, duck and goose meat, goose liver, feathers and down, as well as honey and wine. Salami and ham made from low-cholesterol Hungarian Mangalitsa pigs is gaining increasing recognition and popularity in far-off Japan.

During his visit to Tokyo, Deputy State Secretary Bognár has held successful negotiations with the head of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture with regard to reducing animal health requirements, increasing imports of Hungarian pork and the provision of more agricultural import licences.

Parallel to the FOODEX 2004 exhibition, Hungarian products were also promoted at a trade event jointly organised by the National Association of Mangalitsa Farmers, salami producer Pick Szeged and the Hungarian Embassy in Tokyo showcasing the country's Mangalitsa meat products, and at an exhibition of Hungarian wines.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)