The best opportunities for increasing agricultural trade in the years ahead will take place in Southeast Asia and Africa. The Hagstrom Report says Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Daniel Whitley made that observation during a recent speech before the American Association of Port Authorities.
“Southeast Asia is the fastest-growing market for America’s products,” Whitley says. “People are moving from low-income to middle-income consumers who eat more fruits and vegetables and patronize restaurants and high-end grocery stores.”
He also says Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore already have a “fixation” with the U.S. brand. Whitley says Africa is “visibly shifting before our eyes.” Africa is going from being development recipients to commercial customers. “We need to be in a business relationship and not a developmental relationship with African countries,” he says. “While African countries have traditional ties with the EU, they also want to break some of those ties.”
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