Indonesia's seafood products garnered significant transaction potential at The 26th Japan International Seafood and Technology Expo (JISTE) held at Tokyo Big Sight, Japan, from 21-23 August 2024. The potential transactions reached USD 35.8 million, equivalent to IDR 557 billion, with more than 50% of these transactions coming from seaweed and dried flying fish roe products. "Japan is one of the key markets for Indonesian seafood products. Over the past three years, Japan has ranked third among export destinations for Indonesian seafood. Indonesia's participation in this expo is expected to further strengthen the position of seafood products and boost export performance to Japan," said Mardyana Listyowati, Director General of National Export Development, on Wednesday (28/08/2024).
Through this expo, Indonesia also had the opportunity to promote the preferential tariffs for certain seafood products as outlined in the recently signed Indonesian-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) protocol on 8 August 2024. The expo, which is a B2B event on an international scale, featured various fish products, seafood, and processing and packaging technologies. Indonesian seaweed attracted significant interest, with Japanese companies intending to use it as raw material for various derivative products, including food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles, and livestock feed. Dried flying fish roe, a staple in Japanese cuisine, was another product that captured attention. Miftah Farid, Director of Primary Product Export Development, emphasized that Indonesia's participation in JISTE 2024 was a concrete step in maintaining cooperation with Japanese partners and promoting other premium seafood products favored in the Japanese market, such as shrimp, octopus, squid, crab, and tuna. The expo saw around 25,000 visitors, including distributors, wholesalers, and retail seafood product sellers, with over 1,000 booths from 15 participating countries.
