NEWS RELEASES

June 4, 2001 (11:20 a.m. EDT) No. 72

PETTIGREW ANNOUNCES NEW TRADE OFFICE IN SAPPORO

International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew today announced the official opening of the new Trade Section of the Consulate of Canada in Sapporo, Japan. Canadian Ambassador to Japan, Leonard J. Edwards, presided over the opening ceremony in Sapporo, attended by Japanese officials.

"This reinforces our commitment to increasing our commercial relations with the regional economies of Japan, including the prefecture of Hokkaido," Minister Pettigrew said. "Hokkaido is an important market for Canadian exports of fish, food products and other natural resources. Now that the City of Sapporo is emerging as a leading centre of information technology in Japan, our new trade section there will help promote Canada as an innovative and competitive economy with cutting-edge IT capabilities."

The new trade office will seek to increase opportunities for Canadian and local companies to forge new business relationships, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. The opening is the latest in a series of concrete steps taken to expand Canada's presence throughout Japan, our second-largest trading partner. In September 2000, Mr. Pettigrew announced the opening of a new trade office in Hiroshima. He also participated in a Team Canada trade mission to Japan in 1999, led by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, which reconfirmed new opportunities that exist for Canadian companies in various regions.

Ambassador Edwards also announced the appointment of Mr. Shinichi Tsujio as Canada's Commercial Officer in Sapporo. Hokkaido Governor Tatsuya Hori, Sapporo Deputy Mayor Mizuho Chiba, and Canadian Honorary Consul Tsuneo Fujita attended the opening ceremony.

For more information on trade opportunities in Japan visit: http://www.infoexport.gc.ca/main-e.asp?act=8&cid=22&af=1

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

Sébastien Théberge

Office of the Minister for International Trade

(613) 992-7332

Media Relations Office

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

(613) 995-1874

Canadian Embassy Communications and Culture Section

(03) 5412-6200, ext. 3241

(03) 5412-6200, ext. 3216

Backgrounder

CANADA-JAPAN TRADE RELATIONS

Trade and Investment

Japan is Canada's second-largest trading partner and the fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment in Canada.

In 2000, Canada's two-way merchandise trade with Japan increased by 9.3 percent, from 1999, to $22 billion. After declining in the second half of the 1990s, Canadian merchandise exports to Japan increased by 8 percent in 2000 to $10.3 billion. Merchandise imports from Japan in 2000 continued to grow by 10.6 percent to $11.7 billion. Meanwhile, Canada exported $1.6 billion in services and imported $1.9 billion in 2000.

Canada is a leading supplier to Japan of a number of key products, such as lumber, pulp and paper, minerals, meat, fish, grains and oilseeds, and prefabricated housing. While resource-based exports continue to represent a significant component of our trading relationship, Canada is also becoming an increasingly important source of a range of sophisticated, value-added technology-driven products and services imported by Japan. Aircraft, software, telecommunications equipment and environmental products and services are all entering Japan at a faster rate than before.

Trade Section of the Consulate of Canada in Sapporo

The Trade Section of the Consulate of Canada in Sapporo will seek to increase opportunities for Canadian companies and companies based in Hokkaido to forge new business relationships, particularly small and medium sized-enterprises.

The office will: deepen Canadian knowledge and understanding of Hokkaido and its economy in particular; advise Hokkaido-based businesses regarding Canadian capabilities and help them identify Canadian partners and opportunities for investment in Canada; advise Canadian businesses regarding local conditions and help them identify Hokkaido-based partners and opportunities for investment in Hokkaido; and create opportunities for new business relationships between Canadian and Hokkaido-based companies, in part through the organization of projects such as missions, trade fairs and seminars.

Canada is represented in other areas of Japan by the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, the Consulate General in Osaka, Consulates in Fukuoka and Nagoya, a Consulate in Hiroshima headed by an Honorary Consul with a locally staffed Trade Section similar to that of the new Sapporo office, and an Honorary Consul in Sendai.