The 1st ASEAN Coffee Industry Development Conference (ACID 2018) will be held during 22-25 November 2018 at Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
ACID 2018 is an international conference that aims to support the movement of “ASEAN coffee” for achieving the goal: “Being the leading producer and trader of quality coffee in the world”.
The conference will provide up-to-date knowledge and build understanding on the development of coffee business opportunities under the context of sustainability in ASEAN to thse who involved in the coffee industry in all sectors.
Interestingly, the event will have various activities as follows:
- A Line-up of well-known coffee professional speakers
- Academic Conference
- Trade Exhibition
- ASEAN Barista Championship
- Coffee Filed Trip
Background
Although ASEAN is one of Asia’s sub-regions with 10 country members, its coffee production and export competitiveness is significant, not to mention the fact that ASEAN is also one of the top coffee consuming regions of the world.
With respect to ASEAN coffee production, according to ICO report (2013), there were two countries in ASEAN, Vietnam and Indonesia, that were ranked number two and number four, respectively, in the top five coffee producers in the world. Furthermore, Department of Agriculture of Thailand also reported that Vietnam is the world’s number one producer of Robusta coffee. Thailand’s coffee bean and instant coffee product export has continuously increased by 1.66% per year from 2010 to 2015.
According to Euromonitor International, there were four countries in ASEAN ranked in top 50 countries of the world in terms of coffee consumption, Singapore (#36), Thailand (#41), Malaysia (#45) and the Philippines (#49). In addition, with geographical advantages, ASEAN has a good opportunity to be engaged in coffee business with other Asian countries, for instance, South Korea, Japan, and China especially Japan which is the third largest coffee importer in the world with the growth rate of 3.5% per year (after the European Union and the United States).
ASEAN coffee industry network has been officially formed by the establishment of the ASEAN Coffee Federation (ACF) in 2011. At present, Thailand plays an important role in ACF, as Mr. Meechai Amornpathanakul, President of Barista Association of Thailand, has served as Vice President of ACF. ACF Board and members consist of coffee organizations in ASEAN and country alliances related to both coffee producers and consumers.
There are various activities being organized among those involved in the coffee industry for enhancing regional coffee industry standards for global and regional markets, promoting specialty coffee in ASEAN and coffee producers’ quality of life improvement including promoting quality coffee consumption.
For Thailand, the government has been supporting the coffee business through “The Coffee Strategies of 2017-2021” for Thailand “to be one of the leading quality coffee producers and traders in ASEAN and step into the world market under the good image of Thai coffee”, focusing on promoting Thailand to be one of ASEAN coffee trade centers and increasing domestic coffee production efficiency by reducing production costs and decreasing natural resource exploitation, developing the network between farmers and entrepreneurs including promoting the image and quality of Thai coffee with international standards.
For driving “The Coffee Strategies of 2017-2021” of Thailand into action, the host organizations are: (1) Committee on Agricultural Policy and Planning for Agricultural Cooperatives working on formulating a systematic coffee development policies; (2) The Coffee Working Group under the Horticulture Sub-committee, Department of Agriculture, working on effective implementation of the Coffee Strategies and monitoring the relevant projects.
In addition, under “The Coffee Strategies of 2017-2021” of Thailand, various responsible agencies have been designated, namely, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives; Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Ministry of Science and Technology; Department of Agriculture; Department of Agricultural Extension; Land Development Department; Agricultural Land Reform Office; Office of Agricultural Economics; The National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards; The Food and Drug Administration; Thai Royal Project Foundation; academic institutions; and relevant organizations from the private sector.
Moreover the Industrial Promotion Center Region 1, Department of Industrial Promotion, located in Chiang Mai Province, has initiated the coffee development program for coffee-related entrepreneurs in the upper northern region of Thailand, in the form of the “Coffee Cluster”, to enhance the competitiveness and economic development of the country.
1st ASEAN Coffee Industry Development Conference 2018 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, has been created aiming to develop academic cooperation between public sector and private sector in ASEAN. Also for promoting knowledge and innovations for coffee business development, seeking for fresh coffee business opportunities in the region under the context of ASEAN, the changing environment which affects coffee production, the latest international trade & investment policies including related technologies from the upstream sector to the downstream sector, as well as creating a platform for promoting “The Coffee Strategies of 2017-2021” of Thailand for further understanding and cooperation from all local and international stakeholders.
