The Council of Agriculture (COA) stated that 1.16 million metric tons (MT) of agriproducts, with a total value of NT$85.3 billion, were exported from Taiwan in the first half of 2019, which was 11.3% and 6.5% higher, respectively, than the same period of the previous year, creating new record highs for agriproduct exports. Major exported products including rice, fresh fruit, tea, flowers, and aquaculture products have all achieved great results. In particular, exports of fresh fruit reached NT$4.2 billion, which was not only a 48.7% increase over the same period in 2018, but also surpassed the annual export value of fruit over the years. These figures indicate that measures taken by the COA to build agriproduct export platforms, consolidate traditional markets and expand into emerging ones have shown concrete results.

In 2018, the export amount of agriproducts value of agriproduct exports from Taiwan reached NT$164.6 billion, setting a new high in the past 20 years. With unremitting effort, the COA combined city and county governments, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, foreign representative offices, farmers, farmers’ organizations, industrial groups and trading companies to construct agriproduct export platforms. The COA further brought together various counseling measures and resources to strengthen export supply chains and eliminate barriers to export trade. Through comprehensive marketing integration programs, the COA assisted farmers and trading companies to explore overseas markets. New records were set in the first half of 2019 for overall value of agriproduct exports, with over 50% increases in pineapples, wax apples, bananas, rice, and sea bass. Exports of other important domestically produced items including atemoya, mangoes, tea, Oncidium orchids, Phalaenopsis orchids, and tilapia have also improved. The top five agriproduct export markets of Taiwan included mainland China, Japan, the US, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. In addition, there was a 28% increase in exports to Korea, which was an outstanding result.

In order to avoid excessive concentration of export markets for certain agriproducts and to expand the value of agriproduct sales, the COA has actively promoted various measures through the integration of export platforms. By establishing a stable export supply chain, guiding suppliers to participate in international exhibitions, handling overseas promotion activities, and matching domestic businesses with overseas channels, the COA assisted farmers and exporters to expand into emerging markets such as New Southbound Policy partner countries, the Middle East, and Russia while developing new sales channels in existing markets. In the first half of this year, exports to New Southbound Policy partner countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, and to Middle East markets including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates increased. The various counseling measures and promotion for emerging markets and sales channels have borne fruit. The COA will continue to implement them in the future.

The COA emphasizes that it constructs agriproduct export platforms and works together with all interested parties to improve the quality and stabilize the supply of Taiwan’s agriproduct exports. In the future, the COA will continue to provide information on production, marketing, counseling and incentives for farmers, farmers’ organizations, industry associations, and exporters through platform operations. The COA will also adopt relevant market developing measures to stabilize and expand overseas markets, and increase the diversified marketing channels for Taiwan’s agriproducts, so as to raise farmers’ income and once again achieve great results in Taiwan’s agriproduct exports.