JOHOR BARU: Malaysian exporters have been urged to aggressively penetrate the Japanese halal market, especially its food segment, as the country girds itself for the 2020 Olympics.

Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) chairman Datuk Dr Noraini Ahmad said that Japan, with its 127 million population, had good business prospects and opportunities for local exporters.

She said Japan was Malaysia’s fourth largest trading partner in 2016 at a total value of RM120.26bil, Malaysia's fourth largest export market at RM63.28bil, and third largest source of imports at RM56.98bil.

“Japan is the toughest market to enter but once you are able to penetrate it, it would be like a passport to the world,” Dr Noraini told a press conference after opening a seminar on the business opportunities for the halal industry in Japan at the Johor Entrepreneur Development (EDC) office here.

The event was jointly organised by Matrade, EDC, and the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro).

Dr Noraini said with Tokyo hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics, Japan expected to welcome more than 20 million visitors during the world’s biggest sporting event.

“Over one million Muslims are expected to visit Japan during the Olympics and demand for halal food is likely to go up during and after the event,” she said.

Jetro managing director Akira Kajita said last year, Japan imported a total of about US$225bil (RM1tril) worth of goods, of which 16% was food.

He said the number of Malaysian tourists, including Muslims, visiting the Land of the Rising Sun had increased steadily from 300,000 in 2015 to 400,000 in 2016.