Agribusiness Action Initiatives in Asia PDF Print E-mail

Linking Initiatives to Resist Corporate Control over Asia-Pacific Food Systems

In May 2006, the first Asia-Pacific regional forum of the Agribusiness Action Initiatives (AAI) brought together 30 organizations representing farmers, fisherfolk, women, youth, environmental and rural development groups, researchers and multi-sector advocacy networks.

These groups recognize that the Asia-Pacific region, despite the stalled World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha talks since 2001, is undergoing rapid (if not accelerated) and intense processes of trade and finance liberalization, regional and sub-regional economic integration (like the AFTA/ ASEAN Free Trade Area, Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) plus 3, South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA), Greater Mekong Subregion) and bilateral trade agreements that are leading to the consolidation of corporate power.

These groups, and others like them, are particularly concerned with the growing monopolistic control of corporations and their practices in the region’s food, agriculture and rural development systems. But unlike in previous decades, we have witnessed the emergence of a large number of ‘home-grown’ agri-food companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

These Asian companies have risen to prominence not because of their involvement in ‘traditional’ cash crops and the bulk export of unprocessed, low-value commodities and raw materials, but as a result of a move into the production of a wide range of processed, value-added food lines which are sold to both their own domestic market and overseas. Products such as chicken, seafood, processed fruit and vegetables, noodles, dairy products, fast food products and prepared meals, beer and other beverages, and more.

Importantly, and unlike their counterparts in the West, many of these companies are highly vertically integrated, which means that they are not only involved in agri-food production and processing, but may be involved in the marketing and retailing of a range of value-added products

Among these Asian agri-food giants include the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group) of Thailand, the San Miguel conglomerate of the Philippines, Uni-President Group in Taiwan, the CJ Group in South Korea and the Salim Group of Indonesia. They have all emerged as major players in the region, and increasingly at the global level.

Hand in hand with the emergence of these Asian TNCs is the rise of China’s inward and outward investments (both as public agreements or private contracts) in agri-food sector of the Asia region and even beyond.