News
On February 24, 2009, Ms. Mercedes Araoz Fernández, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism for the Republic of Peru—the world's largest source of alpacas—made a courtesy call at the Kuraray Headquarters. The purpose of the visit was to show the Minister's gratitude for making alpacas famous throughout Japan.
Chosen as the main character in Kuraray's "Mirabakesso" TV commercial series, the alpaca belongs to the family Camelidae and is bred as a livestock animal primarily in the highland areas of the Andes Mountains in South America.
Together with Kuraray's top management, Kuraray-Chan—the alpaca character of this TV commercial series—was rushed all the way from the town of Nasu-machi in Tochigi prefecture to greet Minister Araoz Fernández.
| Place | Kuraray Co., Ltd. Tokyo Headquarters |
|---|
Chairman Yasuaki Wakui(left)
Minister Mercedes Araoz Fernández
(center)
President Fumio Ito(right)
Minister Mercedes Araoz Fernández and Kuraray-Chan at the square in front of the first floor main entrance of the Ote Center Building
Kuraray employees and Kuraray-Chan
Reference
Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism
Mercedes Araoz Fernández
Mercedes Araoz Fernández, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism for the Republic of Peru
- Earned a Master of Arts Degree in Economics and concluded doctoral studies at the University of Miami
- Part-time lecturer at the Universidad del Pacìfico (University of the Pacific)
- International consultant specializing in commercial policy, trade negotiations, investments and competiveness
- Executive Director of the National Council for Competitiveness and the Peruvian negotiation team's chief negotiator for the USA/Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
- Chairperson of the negotiation group on furthering competition policies in the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA)
- Chairperson of the FTAA's Trade Remedies Group related to dumping, subsidies and safeguards, and Vice President of the Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Measures Commission at the Peruvian National Agency for Competition and Intellectual Property (INDECOPI)
A scene from Kuraray's TV commercial, the "Lucky Charm" Episode, featuring the alpaca, Kuraray-Chan
- News Release
/news/2008/081224 - Related websites
The "Mirabakesso" campaign website (includes commercials featuring Kuraray-Chan and footage of their production)
http://www.mirabakesso.jp/ (in Japanese only) - Nasu Big Farm
(an alpaca farm located in the town of Nasu-machi, Tochigi prefecture and is home to Kuraray-Chan)
http://www.nasubigfarm.com/ (in Japanese only)
