Japanese food service industry eyes Myanmar market

Japan's trade organization held a business promotion event in Tokyo on Monday to help Japanese restaurant chains expand their operations to Myanmar.

The Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO, invited to the event top executives from 3 Myanmar restaurant operators and officials of Japanese food service chains.

The Japanese chains serve foods such as ramen noodles and shabu-shabu hot pot.

The Myanmar side told the meeting what Japanese foods are popular in the country and gave details about running a business there.

The participants then held separate talks. Japanese officials described their operations in other Southeast Asian nations and discussed possible cooperation and investment tie-ups with the companies from Myanmar.

Very few Japanese restaurant chains have entered Myanmar. But more and more firms are considering making inroads into the promising market.

One Japanese participant said that Myanmar's economy is expected to grow and that his company wants to take the opportunity to expand into the country.