APEC Conference on Enhancing Global “Food Value Chains” in Asia-Pacific

Summary Report

Date and Venue

19-20 June 2014Mita Conference Hall (Address: 16-20, 4-chome, Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo JAPAN)

Participants

About 100 participants from APEC economies, OECD and ASEAN countries, related international organizations, private sectors

Objectives

It is essential to enhance value chains of production, processing and marketing in agriculture and food sector in order to contribute to the development of agriculture and food industries in Asia-Pacific.

The conference shared the research achievements on Global Values Chains by OECD, the experiences by private sectors, the developments and achievements in Asia-Pacific, and discusses the future agendas to enhance value chains in agriculture and food sector in the region.

The conference utilized the framework of APEC Workshop of Food Security, in collaboration with both the APEC Secretariat and the ASEAN Secretariat. The workshop also served as the 50th anniversary event of Japan’s accession to OECD and aimed to contribute to strengthening the relationship between OECD and Asia-Pacific.

Discussion

The conference first overviewed the development of value chains in food and agriculture industry in Asia-Pacific from empirical perspective based on the work by OECD and JETRO-IDE. The experience of private sector such as trading companies, food manufacturing industry and primary producer’s organization in integrating the food and agricultural sector in Asia-Pacific was then discussed with a view to identify potential constraints to enhance value chains in the region. The initiative of private public partnership was also introduced.

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The second part of the conference focused on the integration of food and agriculture industry in Asia-Pacific, focusing on Southeast Asia. The experiences of several economies were shared with a view to find key factors to develop value chains in food and agricultural sector in the region such as productive capacity, infrastructure, institutionalization and business environment.

Key Findings are as follows;

Demands for reliable and safe agro-food products with reasonable price are surely growing;

No single model fits for all situations but farmers can control local value chain and benefit from the PPP to establish GVC;

More coordination in domestic standards and regulations would allow economies to benefit more from GVC; and

It is also very important to invest and provide opportunities for small scale farmers to participate in rapidly changing GVC.

Discussion at the ConferenceGroup Photo

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