On March 10-18, 2013, a seminar on agriculture issues for experts from GUAM member states took place in Japan, involving representatives from the ministries and administrations of GUAM member states and the GUAM Secretariat.

Within the framework of the seminar, representatives of the GUAM member states took part in a “roundtable” organised in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Japan, which involved representatives of Japanese agriculture corporations, the agriculture business and consulting sphere. Representatives of GUAM member states gave presentations about the development of agriculture in their respective member states, and expressed gratitude to the Japanese hosts for their excellent organisation of this seminar.

During the seminar, participants learned about the Japanese experience with respect to agricultural development. Participants visited the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and numerous production facilities, such as the Unagi Pie Factory, the Plant Factory at Chiba University, JA Mikkabi, as well as the Milk Factory (Kyoto).

Apart from that, as part of the seminar, representatives of GUAM member states became acquainted with the main sights of Tokyo and Kyoto.

The experience acquired during the Seminar will be used as a good base for developing new joint projects in the field of agriculture within the GUAM-Japan format.