11.07.2019
Dmitry Makarov, Business development director of APB, as part of the official delegation from Amur Region, visited Japan with a business mission

From June 30 to July 6, the delegation of Amur Region headed by the Minister of Agriculture Oleg Turkov visited Japan, Hokkaido Prefecture. Hokkaido is the largest food producer in Japan. The prefecture ranks first in the country in terms of crop production and livestock production. This is the second visit of key representatives of the government and business of Amur region to Japan. The trip was organized with the assistance of the Amur branch of the “Russia-Japan” Association and the Amur Region Investment Agency. This meeting was held as part of a project to develop cooperation between Amur Region and Japan, approved in 2018 by the Head of the Government of the Region.

The delegation included the heads of major meat and grain producers in Amur Region – «Krasnaya Zvezda» agricultural holding, «Oktyabrsky Elevator» and “MisAgro”, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and External Relations Yekaterina  Kireeva. Dmitry Makarov, Business development director of Asian-Pacific Bank also took part.

It is worth noting that a tight schedule of events was organized for the delegation from Amur Region: 3 cities, business meetings, negotiations and sessions, excursions to the place of business. The Amur Region delegation was able to visit several large agricultural and cattle-breeding enterprises in Obihiro and Sapporo: “Oakleaf” cattle-breeding farm, the “Taisei” feed-producing enterprise, the farm for growing the feeding, the large cooperative of the agricultural enterprises of Mamuro and the largest elevator complex in Hokkaido to see and evaluate the production of Japanese agricultural equipment at one of the country's oldest enterprises “Takakita”. Besides, there was a meeting with representatives of the local administration in Obihiro and Sapporo, with representatives of the Hokkaido government representatives, as well as two deputy governors of Haokkaido, the president and top managers of the Hokkaido Bank, held a meeting in Hokkaido news and analysis agency and the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Sapporo Andrey Fabrichnikov.

Some Japanese companies have already expressed interest in supplying quality Amur products for their business needs: soybean meal, wheat, corn. Colleagues-farmers from Amur Region have an interest in Japanese technologies and manufacturing equipment.

“For us this visit is more than relevant, because Asian-Pacific Bank is one of the few regional banks that has been building long-term cooperation with representatives of the Asian market for many years. We know the Chinese market well and now we are actively increasing our cooperation with representatives of Japanese banks and businesses. In the nearest future, we plan to increase the number of client contracts serviced with Japan, the flow of non-cash conversions and payments, also increasing operations with Japanese yen. At the meeting with the president and representatives of Hokkaido Bank, we discussed the prospects for cooperation, the possibility of developing the consulting direction of the bank, which effectively works with China and is highly valued by our customers. They also discussed the possibility of exchanging experience in project and process management in the field of banking technologies. It will be an opportunity not only for our bank, but also for businessmen of Amur Region to use high-quality banking services to develop their business in the future”, -  commented Dmitry Makarov, Business Development Director of APB