ASEAN Access Processed Fruits & Vegetables : New Market Opportunities

February 22, 2023

The ASEAN region has been growing steadily since the 1980s. The wave of growth began in Singapore, spread to Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, and since the 2000s has spread to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. It is known that export-oriented industrialization policies that leverage the export of agricultural and food processed products have contributed to the growth of this region.

In the process, a production division of labor was formed in the ASEAN region, which has deepened intra-regional trade and has become a driving force for economic integration. ASEAN realized the Economic Community in 2015 and has been a driving force for economic integration in the Asian region in various fields. Many studies on intra-regional trade focus on the mutual trade of industrial products. However, intra-regional trade in agricultural products and processed food including fruits and vegetables is also important from the following perspectives.

1. The ratio of the labor force related to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries is high.
2. The improvement of productivity in the agricultural sector is indispensable for reducing income disparities within each country and the region.
3. Cross-border food value chain growth is one of the strategies to grow the agricultural sector.
4. To secure a stable supply of agricultural products and food (food security) in the region is important, given that climate change is a problem.

Women’s Business Council Philippines (WomenbizPH) was the lead organizer of ASEAN Access Processed Fruits and Vegetables : New Market Opportunities held last February 22, 2023 (Tuesday) , knowledge sharing and Business Matching.