A few days ago, the Japanese ambassador to Mexico, Noriteru Fukushima, traveled to Guadalajara for the celebrations of the 125th anniversary of the first Japanese migration to this country. During his visit, he made reference to the economic relations that unite Japan and Jalisco, highlighting investments in the automotive sector and trade in agricultural products.
The ambassador emphasized that Jalisco has great export potential in agricultural matters that the Bajío region can take advantage of to attract more Japanese investment in its industrial sectors.
In 2021, Japan contributed 4.2% of the FDI flows that Jalisco received; also, from another perspective, Jalisco captured 5.5% of all the Japanese flows destined to Mexico.
To date, there are 76 Japanese companies installed in the state, mainly in the automotive, food and water treatment sectors. Likewise, as of January 22, 2022, there are 46 Mexican companies with Japanese capital in the National Registry of Foreign Investment.
Japan is one of Mexico’s main trading partners, in 2020 it was the 7th export destination of our country. Most of the exported products are from the automotive, electronics and mining industries, however, the agricultural industry also plays a big role in Japanese consumption.
It is the main importer of agricultural products in the world, in 2020 it made 3.7% of world imports of this type. In the same year, it was the 2nd most profitable agri-food market for Mexico, with a value of 1,041 million dollars.
In fact, avocado was the fifth most exported product from Mexico to Japan last year, with a value of 166.6 million dollars, composing approximately 4.5% of total exports. Likewise, exports of meat, fish, shellfish, pumpkin and tequila were very significant. Tequila exports to Japan were 12.1 million dollars last year, 0.33% of total exports to this country.
Mexico was the 4th supplier of fruits and vegetables, the 5th of meat, the 5th in spirits, the 10th in cereals, the 13th in products of animal origin and the 25th in aquaculture products for Japan in 2021.
According to national statistics, Jalisco is the Mexican leader in the agricultural industry. The GDP of its primary sector increased 2.32% in 2020 compared to the previous year in real terms, and contributed 6.46% of the total GDP of the state.
In 2021, the state registered a production of 41,254,873 tons with a value of 195,252 million pesos, participating with 14% and 14.7% of the national total, respectively. It’s even more surprising if one has the perspective that Michoacán, the second national place, gained a bit more than half of the production value of Jalisco.
Specifically, Jalisco contributed in 2021, 13.3% of national agricultural production, 22.8% of livestock and 1.0% of fishing. In 2020 the state participated with 5.7% of the total value of agricultural production for export, ranking 5th nationally.
Being that Jalisco is the national leader in the production of tequila, eggs, pork, chia, tamarind, milk, blueberries and raspberries; ranks second in the production of avocado, sugar cane, beef and poultry; and the third in honey and charal, which are products with a large Japanese consumption, it is prominent that there is a large window of opportunity to boost the state’s exports.
The advance of agri-food exports to Japan could cause a great economic spill, because this country has very strict phytosanitary standards and barriers, and if this market is accessed, other Asian countries would not apply such harsh measures, motivating imports to Mexico.
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