ASEAN, EUROPEAN UNION NOW BIGGEST BUYERS FOR PHILIPPINES Along with Thailand, the Philippines is one of the world’s largest producers of coconuts and pineapples, and a major producer of rice and sugar, according to the Thai National Food Institute. Some of the biggest global food producers and domestic industries in the Philippines have developed large scale cultivation and processing facilities. These include domestically based San Miguel and other corporations including foreign companies such as Del Monte, Kraft Foods, Unilever, Nestle and Dole Food Company, according to a high official of TNFI. According to figures given at the recent ASEAN-EU Business Summit held in Hanoi, agro-food sales account for 17% of total exports for Vietnam and Indonesia and 14% for Thailand. The latter’s food exports are running at around US$30 billion a year with exports to other ASEAN countries representing some US$6 billion of the total. With some 1.4 million hectares of land under cultivation for sugar cane, Thailand is the world’s second largest sugar producer after Brazil with exports of 6.5 million tons a year, valued at more than US$3.6 billion. The country also ranks as the world’s largest producer of shrimp, processed chicken and canned tuna and provides high quality food products for markets in Europe, Japan and North America as well as the ASEAN Region. Closer regional cooperation could see the percentage of export sales within ASEAN countries rise to 30% in the next few years, according to Petch Chinabutr, Director of the Thai National Food Institute. Chinabutr said the ASEAN area is already Thailand’s largest export market accounting for 20.6% of sales, followed by Japan at 14.6% and the US at 12.8%. “ The National Food Institute (NFI) is urging small and medium sized enterprises to cooperate with companies in other ASEAN countries to utilize new technologies and improve the free flow of goods and raw materials “ the TNFI official said. The TNFI, which operates independently under the Ministry of Industry, focuses on implementing international quality standards, technology and food safety research and development. This has helped establish Thailand as one of the top five net food exporters in the world. Sales of canned and frozen fish including catfish, shrimp, prawn, carp and tilapia are a growing export for Thailand, Philippines and others in the region, according to Chinabutr. The TNFI official said around 17% of the world’s aquaculture production is produced here. Indonesia is the largest producer with an annual production estimated at 3.9 million tonnes followed by Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand with production of around 2.5, 2.4 and 1.4 million tonnes a year respectively. (BANGKOK POST)
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 23:51:28 +0000
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