Welcome Remarks to the Second ASEAN Rice Trade Forum

Mrs. Takako Ito Minister Counselor of Mission of Japan to ASEAN

Sheraton Mustika Hotel, Yogyakarta, 4 June 2013

His Excellency Mr. Tahlim Sudaryanto, Assistant Minister for International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia. Mr. Ngin Chhay, Chairman of ASEAN Food Security Reserve Board. Ms. Lourdes Adriano, Advisor, Practice Leader, Asian Development Bank. Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my great pleasure and honour to have the opportunity to speak to you today. On behalf of the Government of Japan, I extend my heartfelt congratulations on the convening of the Second ASEAN Rice Trade Forum on the theme of Rice Trade and Self Sufficiency in ASEAN. The Government of Japan wishes the Forum every success as it charts new directions on issues and options on rice trade and self-sufficiency in the ASEAN region. It is a privilege to be part of the ASEAN Rice Trade Forum which marked its pilot activity in June last year in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Through the Asian Development Bank, the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction has provided support for the Forum as part of its technical assistance for the implementation of the ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework and the Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region 20092013. In line with this basic policy framework of the ASEAN, we commend the central purpose of the Forum to provide a multistakeholder platform for discussing food security issues and the importance of enlarging rice trade in the region and even globally. Given the still predominant role of rice as a main staple in Asia, fostering regional cooperation on rice trade is certainly an imperative, especially in addressing widespread poverty across the region. The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction shares this common objective of fighting poverty. On this occasion, please allow me to introduce you to the current status of Japans rice production and rice consumption. Rice has been the primary staple crop for the Japanese people for several thousand years. Since rice is originally a tropical crop, we, the Japanese people have made ceaseless efforts for staple production of rice, which could produce a large harvest in Japans cooler climate. After the 19th century, the Government of Japan kept on promoting the development of technologies for rice cultivation, fertilizers and pesticides, agricultural machines, irrigation, plant breeding, and so on. These efforts resulted in maximum annual production, which was about 14 million tons in 1965. On the other hand, Japan imports a lot of wheat, soybeans and feeds and this has resulted in the low percentage of the food self-sufficiency ratio of Japan that is only 40%. This figure is lower than that of other industrialized countries in the world.

To cope with this issue, the Government of Japan has been trying to encourage the consumption of rice. We promote the production of good tasting rice and the utilization of rice as feeds. We think that the latter objective will particularly increase food self-sufficiency. We also promote using rice powder as a substitute for wheat flour. Rice bread and rice pasta are becoming popular now in Japan. In 2010, a Japanese household appliance manufacturer began to sell an electric bread maker that can bake bread from out of rice grain. This bread maker has received huge public attention and over 200,000 bread makers were sold in the first 2 years. We have also been developing rice-oriented technologies, such as rice breeding, production, distribution and preservation. Japan is willing to share its experiences with other countries in order to improve food security. For example, Japan has been cooperating with African countries in providing technical support through Japanese experts for producing NERICANew Rice for Africa. Japan has also been actively contributing financially and serving as a coordinator, together with Thailand, for the Emergency Rice Reserve Pilot Project in the ASEAN since 2004. The ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve or APTERR legally entered into force in July 2012. APTERR is a rice reserve system to ensure rice supplies to areas affected by natural disasters. In the wake of a typhoon that caused great damage in the Philippines in 2012, the APTERR Secretariat requested Japan to provide urgent support to the victims by way of utilizing APTERRs Tier 3. Considering the need for immediate assistance, Japan accepted the APTERR Secretariats request and contributed USD 200,000. This is the very first case of providing support for disaster victims under APTERR since the APTERR Agreement entered into force. Japan will keep contributing to the strengthening of food security in East Asia. Ladies and Gentlemen, This January, the Government of Japan commemorated the 40th year of friendship and cooperation between ASEAN and Japan. It is our hope that this Forum and its outputs and recommendations will contribute to alleviating the condition of the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the region through collective and coherent policy actions on rice trade and food security and will become another successful example of ASEANJapan cooperation. We wish you all a most fruitful forum. Thank you very much.