TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan pledged Thursday to purchase Japanese agricultural and fishery products during the 49th Taiwan-Japan Economic and Trade Conference.

The Taiwanese delegation was led by Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), chair of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, while the Japanese delegation was led by Sumi Shuzo, chair of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, according to CNA. During the meeting, the two sides signed a regional customs cooperation and digital trade agreement.

Su said the conference is an important symbol of deepened cooperation and shared prosperity. Since Japan’s new cabinet under Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae took office in October, the government has reaffirmed its commitment to a steady Indo-Pacific foreign policy. 

Su said Taiwan will continue to defend free and fair international trade while taking concrete actions to support safe, high-quality Japanese agricultural and fishery products. He added that this demonstrates mutual trust and friendship between democratic partners while working toward a better future.

Sumi said that at the recent APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in South Korea, Takaichi met with Taiwan’s envoy Lin Hsin-i (林信義), and both sides agreed to continue deepening cooperation across economic and disaster prevention fields.  

Sumi also noted that before Thursday's full conference meeting, subgroup meetings were held from Nov. 10–13. He observed active discussions on improving Taiwan’s power industry investment environment.

He added that representatives from Japanese and Taiwanese ministries attended as observers and expressed gratitude for contributions to improving economic exchanges, citing TSMC’s investment in Kumamoto, Japan, and the lifting of restrictions on Japanese food imports.