Premier Smith positions Alberta as food and energy partner with Japan and South Korea. Courtesy/X

By Jayk Sterkenburg

PROVINCE

‘They want Alberta’: Premier Smith positions province as food and energy partner with Japan

Apr 26, 2025 | 11:51 AM

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith returned Saturday from her visit to Asia to identify new opportunities for collaboration across Alberta’s resource, agri-food and technology sectors.

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READ: Premier Smith visiting Asia to grow Alberta’s energy and agriculture markets

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Smith said her time in South Korea and Japan made clear that their markets want to buy more Alberta energy and food.

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“If only our federal government would step aside and support getting these commodities to market,” she said in an X post Saturday.

Smith said in Japan, she met with the Japan Gas Association, which represents 200 gas utilities.

She said the meeting underscored that Japan needs reliable energy, and that they want Alberta as a partner.

Smith said she sat down with Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security, with whom she said Alberta recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

The MOU is intended to strengthen collaboration on the responsible development of Alberta’s oil, natural gas, hydrogen, and ammonia resources — as well as to advance carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies.

Smith said at a Costco in Japan, Alberta pork from Red Deer and beef from Brooks was stocked on shelves.

Smith displays product from Alberta stocked in Japan Costco. Courtesy/X

“[This is] a powerful reminder that our farmers and producers are among the best in the world, and global markets are eager for what Alberta offers,” she said.

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