- Premier and Deputy Premier lead mission to Japan to boost WA tourism and trade
- Direct flights between Tokyo and Perth resuming next week
- Western Australia and Japan trade relationship worth almost $40 billion in 2022, supporting thousands of jobs
The Premier and Deputy Premier along with representatives from Western Australian Treasury Corporation (WATC) will board the first direct Perth to Tokyo flight in more than three years next weekend, as part of a mission to boost tourism, trade and local Western Australian jobs.
Japan is WA's second largest trading partner, with $39.7 billion of goods traded in 2022, based on long-standing partnerships in iron ore, LNG, and other job-creating commodities.
The trade mission - which marks the Premier and Deputy Premier's first official visits to Japan - will provide an important opportunity to bolster the investment and trade relationship between WA and Japan.
The All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight, first taking off on Sunday 29 October, will run three times a week and marks the return of a popular route first launched in 2019.
It will help to boost visitor numbers to WA, with Japan a key market in the Cook Government's Walking on a Dream tourism campaign.
The mission will involve a range of high-level meetings and events with industry stakeholders, including an energy and resources seminar to be attended by Japanese energy and resources companies, investors, Government representatives and trading houses.
Premier Cook and Deputy Premier Saffioti are set to meet with board representatives from Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Marubeni, and the Premier will meet with the Parliamentary Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and the CEO of JOGMEC.
The Deputy Premier and the WATC will also meet with Japan's financial institutions and banking industry, to promote WA as an investment destination of choice.
As stated by Premier Roger Cook:
"Japan is one of our closest and most important trading partners - and our relationship with Japan underpins tens of thousands of jobs in our resources sector.
"This mission will strengthen those ties, and to grasp the enormous opportunities of the future - in tourism and in green energy industries.
"My Government is committed to diversifying our economy to create strong local jobs for the future."
As stated by Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti:
"Having the opportunity to promote the investment opportunities through the Western Australian Treasury Corporation firsthand in Japan, is an invaluable tool which we are set to take full advantage of.
"Being able to come across on the resumption of the direct flight route run by ANA is a great way to travel between Tokyo and Perth - a trip I am sure many more travellers will choose to take."
