Fundamental agricultural reforms modeled after the European system of direct payments to farmers to help strengthen their sector's competitiveness and promote trade liberalization will be carried out, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara vowed Monday.
Speaking at a forum for institutional investors, the foreign minister said Japan will pursue high-level free-trade agreements with its economic partners and at the same time encourage "a flourishing agricultural sector and prosperous rural districts at home."
Maehara said both the European Union and South Korea have introduced drastic reforms to brace for the impact that regional market integration and liberalization will have on the farm sector.