Twelve Westland companies led by major Sjaak van der Tak, Rob Baan and Cindy Heijdra visited various Japanese companies. The program included a two-day visit to the Miyagi prefecture, which was hit by the tsunami on March 11, 2011 and where people are now trying to develop horticulture. In Sendai, 35 hectares of modern greenhouse horticulture is being realized on the initiative of the Dutch horticultural industry. Westland entrepreneurs are the driving force behind the reconstruction of this area, which sustained much damage from the tsunami.
In tsunami area Sendai. 6m waves destroyed the land, but left opportunities for horticulture, writes mayor Sjaak van der Tak.
Visiting a Japanese strawberry grower (twitter Cindy Heijdra)
The rest of the program took place in Tokyo and surroundings, where a visit was made to the agricultural and horticultural exhibition Agro-Innovation Japan 2013. Additionally, a Japan-Netherlands Horticulture seminar and networking reception was organized.