Agribusiness dev’t vital to competitiveness in Asean

In the member countries of the AS A will form a single economic community, the AS A conomic Community (A C

The vision is to enhance their collective competiveness by operating as a single market and production base with a free fl ow of goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labor

The combined gross domestic product (G of Indonesia, Malaysia, hilippines, Singapore, Thailand, runei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and ietnam grew from trillion in to trillion in or by a total of percent

The aim of the A C is to boost the growth of this combined G and the community’s share in the global supply and value chain

hilippine G grew from million in to in or by a total of percent This G growth compares favorably with the region

Thus, its faster growing sectors must prepare to maximi e opportunities presented by A C, and sectors with lower growth rates must prepare for challenges

Antonio oces, president of the Foundation for esource Linkage and evelopment (F L , notes “the AS A conomic Community brings with it a new level of opportunities for production and value adding coordination and complementation

owever, it also raises the bar of challenges of competition between its member countries

ach country has to address its comparative strengths and weaknesses and make its own strategies and programs to maximi e opportunities and minimi e challenges involved with the lowering of tariffs and greater interregional trade in goods and services

For hilippine agribusiness, a ma or concern of competitiveness within AS A is the need to provide the benefits of economies of scale to its predominantly small scale agribusiness stakeholders ”

ne key strategy is to upscale common service providers for production, post-harvest and other inter- related facilities along the value chain

Inherent to this is to cluster these inter- related agribusiness facilities to improve access to and economies of inputs and linkages for the producers, processors and other stakeholders along the value and market chain

The effectiveness of agribusiness clustering is evident in the tuna industry The ma ority of tuna catch is landed in Gen Santos with its upscale fishing port and international container port

ithin its vicinity are clustered inter-related industries such as ice plants, cold storage, fish processing and canning, fuel depots and ship repair among others

The result is an efficient supply and value chain which has made the hilippine tuna industry competitive within AS A and beyond

oces added, “Leaders of agribusiness enterprises within AS A are keenly aware that they cannot operate in isolation They have to engage other countries within the A C and beyond

A case in point is the engagement by hilippine government and the expanded tuna industry with other countries through trade agreements which have expanded our access to fishing resources beyond our seas and likewise to international markets ”

From ctober to , the country’s largest and most influential trade exhibit on agriculture, food and aquaculture will be held at the orld Trade Center ( TC

The triple exhibit, composed of Agrilink, Foodlink and Aqualink, has for its theme “Agribusines Clusters: Key to Competitiveness within AS A ”

It highlights the importance of agribusiness clusters in enhancing collective competitiveness through more effective supply chains on which value chains can be built and sustained

Supported by the epartment of Agriculture, its regional units and allied agencies, as well as co-organi ed by agribusiness and food organi ations, Agrilink will feature local and international products and technologies at the expanded exhibit area of the TC

This st Agrilink will as usual offer free entrance to the exhibit, live animal and plant display and seminars

The three day event will provide easy access to the largest array of the latest and the best agricultural equipment, inputs, technologies, products and services

The exhibit will likewise provide a venue for the biggest gathering of high level leaders of the local and international agribusiness and food sectors that attend as participants and or resource persons

For more information contact F L at , , and or email frld.agrilink@gmail.com.

isitors can also pre-register their attendance through its official Facebook page at facebook.com/agrilinkPH.