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Embracing agricultural cold chain commercial opportunities in New Southbound Policy partner countries; Council of Agriculture holds course to train agricultural cold chain managers

2019-11-28

In order to train professionals for Taiwanese agribusinesses operating in New Southbound Policy partner countries, the Council of Agriculture (COA) held a special class focusing on agricultural cold chains from November 25-28 entitled “2019 New Southbound Talent Training Program: Agricultural Cold Chain Manager Training Course.” Those who received training came from Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, as well from Taiwanese farming and fisheries businesses preparing to set up operations in New Southbound Policy partner countries.

The COA states that, in the wake of rapid market liberalization and internationalization, maintaining the quality of agriproducts starts right from the harvest. The challenge is how to reduce losses and waste and generate correspondingly larger profits during the process from post-harvest handling, packaging, and transport to sales into the hands of consumers. One of the main solutions is creating agricultural cold chain systems, and this is also a major trend for the future. Therefore it is necessary to prioritize planning for the deployment of skilled professionals to get ahead of competitors and take advantage of these opportunities.

The COA further points out that Southeast Asian countries lose or waste at least 30% of agriproducts in post-harvest handling and transportation. Cold chain construction is certainly very important is terms of reducing losses and waste of agriproducts and upgrading their quality, and is an approach that Southeast Asian countries are emphasizing. Taiwanese businesses in Southeast Asia are familiar with the unique characteristics of markets in New Southbound Policy partner countries, and have experience and strong capabilities in the development of agriculture-related enterprises, making them important partners in Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. The COA commissioned the Agricultural Technology Research Institute and the Taiwan Cold Chain Association to offer this training course, focusing on the cold chain needs of Taiwanese agribusinesses in New Southbound Policy partner countries. The course was designed to employ a variety of teaching methods, including an introduction to international trends in cold chain development, cold chain solutions, successful case studies, on-site visits, and discussions and seminars. By upgrading the professional knowledge and skills of Taiwanese businesses with regard to cold chains, and through multifaceted interactions, it is hoped that more innovations and commercial opportunities for agricultural cold chains will be generated.

The “Agricultural Cold Chain Manager Training Program” ended on November 28. Students included the president of the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce, CEOs, general managers, and executive assistants. During the course they were brought together with cold chain systems experts and agricultural technology specialists, and through sharing of experiences and group discussions they sparked inter-industry alliances, successfully linking overseas Taiwanese businesses with Taiwan’s domestic agricultural cold chains. Even more noteworthy is that that Taiwan Cold Chain Association has set up an “Industrial Southbound Cold Chain Logistics Services Platform” in Vietnam, providing cross-border cold chain logistics services mainly for food ingredients for the food and beverage industry (including farming, fisheries, and animal husbandry products). This platform upgrades the competitiveness of Taiwan’s cold chain systems and also opens the door for the entry of Taiwanese cold chain technology and equipment into New Southbound Policy partner countries, creating a win-win situation.