The Commercial Counsellor visited Miyagi Prefectureto pursue promotion of Pakistan’s interests in trade, foreign investment and economic cooperation. The Mission’s ongoing strategy isto bring Pakistan’s vibrant community in Japan to partner in the development of Pakistan bydeveloping linkages to establish joint ventures especially in the SME’s sector.
Miyagi has a robust fishing and agriculture bases, producing a great deal of rice and livestock. There is a strong presence of manufacturing industries around Sendai, particularly automobile, electronics, appliances, and food processing.Toyota Motor East Japan and the establishment of an automobile battery manufacturing plant by a joint business venture comprising Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation, Miyagi is expected to develop as one of Japan's main bases for the automotive industry. In fact, it is expected to become the auto industry's third largest regional base in Japan after the Tokai and Kyushu regions. Miyagi is also gaining attention as a base for the semiconductor industry, since a leading global semiconductor manufacturer, Tokyo Electron, established its manufacturing site and research and development center in the area.
During the meetings with the Sendai Chamber, METI and JETRO Tohoku, Prefectural and City Governments and the Pakistani business community of Miyagi Prefecture, all stakeholders welcomed the Commercial Counselor’s visit to share information about Pakistan. They said such visits and interactions would be very productive for business communities in both countries. They expressed keen interest in Pakistan and advised that a country-specific Seminar on Pakistan be held in conjunction with JETRO, METI, SCCI and the Prefectural and City Government authorities at Sendai. The potential sectors of mutual cooperation were identified as food processing, sea-food, halal and automobile sector.