Governor Jorginho Mello had a meeting, on March 10th, with the General Consul of Japan in Curitiba, Hamada Keiji. The meeting was held at the State Commercial Board (Jucesc) where the International Affairs Space is being created.

The purpose of the meeting was to develop a commercial cooperation between Santa Catarina and Japan, with the establishment of a Chamber of Commerce Brazil/Japan in the State, an Itinerant Consular Service and the Nipo-Catarinense Cultural Association. The space will be structured at the Commercial Board’s building.

Jorginho Mello assured that Santa Catarina already maintains good diplomatic and commercial relations with the Asian country, but the goal is to move forward with the business plans. “We already sell chicken meat, pork meat, and now we want to sell bovine meat for being a state free of food and mouth diseases (without vaccinations). We are looking forward into the second sanitation project in cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jira)”, stressed the Governor.

“This is a partnership that has been consolidated and it will bring together Chambers of Commerce and Consulates to create business on behalf of Santa Catarina and the partners who are in our State. It is the second institution that settled in the State, starting to develop a long-term relationship for the benefit of the entire Santa Catarina family,” said the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Juliano Froehner, during the set up of the International Affairs Space, at Jucesc.

The Secretary of Industry, Commerce and Service, Silvio Dreveck, also attended the meeting and highlighted the importance of Santa Catarina’s internationalization. “We are a strategic State capable of attracting more and more Japanese investments and strengthening international relations between the two markets. Asia is one of the main destinations for Brazilian exports and imports and Santa Catarina contributes to this fact, mainly in the meat market. We will continue to intensify our relations”, emphasizes Dreveck.

The General Consul of Japan in Curitiba, Hamada Keiji, said that there are new projects being carried out in Santa Catarina, such as the construction of a dojo for judo practice in Santo Amaro da Imperatriz (a town near the state’s capital). The structure can be used by young people from other towns in the metropolitan region. “We have a good dialog with the Government of Santa Catarina and we are already maintaining business in the field of vehicle parts production. We will continue to discuss about good proposals that are still to come”, highlighted Hamada Keiji.

Text and photos: Secom