OPENING REMARKS FOR THE OPENING CEREMONY OF

st
THE 21 MEETING OF THE NATIONAL FOCAL POINTS FOR ASEAN COCOA
CLUB (ACC)
ON ASEAN COOPERATION AND JOINT APPROACHES IN AGRICULTURE AND
FOREST PRODUCTS PROMOTION SCHEME

25-26 April 2018

Hotel Continental Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the ASEAN Cocoa Club (ACC), I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the
Government of Viet Nam for hosting the 21st Meeting of the National Focal Points for ASEAN
Cocoa Club (ACC) on ASEAN Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest
Products Promotion Scheme from 25 to 26 April 2018.

It gives me great pleasure to welcome all the distinguished delegates from 6 of the ASEAN
Member States in particular from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines and Viet
Nam. We are honoured to have the Chairman of Viet Nam Cocoa Committee (VCC), Dr. Tran
Van Khoi to grace and officiates the 21st ACC Meeting. I would also like to express my heartfelt
thanks and appreciation to the VCC and the National Agriculture Extension Center, Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development for their commitment and support to jointly organized this
Meeting. My utmost appreciation and gratitude to the private sectors particularly Binh Dien
Fertilizer Joint Stock Company for hosting the official dinner and Trong Duc Cocoa Company
for organizing the field visit to the cocoa farm and processing factory.

The 7th Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club Technical Working Group on Good Agricultural
Practices (ACCTWGAP) and the 10th Meeting of the ASEAN Cocoa Club on Food Safety
(ACCTWGFS) were held yesterday. I am sure all of you had a fruitful discussion in overcoming
the issues and challenges to strengthen the cocoa industry in the ASEAN countries.

1
Ladies and Gentleman,

The ASEAN countries as a whole ranked as the third largest producers of cocoa beans in the
world and the largest in the Asia and Oceania region. According to the International Cocoa
Organization (ICCO), ASEAN countries with an estimated annual cocoa production of 299.0
tonnes, accounts for about 6.4 percent of the total world cocoa production for the 2017/2018
cocoa-year. Indonesia contributed about 6.0 percent of the total world cocoa production, while
the cocoa production in Malaysia, Viet Nam, Philippines and Thailand contributed about 0.4
percent.

In terms of grindings, ASEAN accounted about 17.9 percent or 804.7 tonnes of the total world
cocoa grinding in 2017/2018. ASEAN as a region is the largest cocoa processor in the Asia and
Oceania region, contributing about 79.2 percent of the total cocoa grindings. The cocoa industry
in ASEAN has attained significant recognition in the global market both from the perspective of
cocoa beans production as well as supplier of the cocoa products.

World cocoa economy has experienced a downward trend of cocoa beans price in 2017, hitting a
five-year low, undermined by strong West African production which drove the world back into
production surplus of 335,000 metric tonne. The downward trend continues and remained fairly
flat until the first quarter of 2018 even though there is strong chocolate demand around the
world. Therefore, there is a need for the AMS to work together as well as to strengthen
cooperation in addressing and solving issues and challenges in assisting the cocoa growers who
are badly affected from the bearish market sentiment.

Ladies and Gentleman,

For the past 20 years, the ASEAN Cocoa Club (ACC) went through several phases of reviewing
and strengthening the work plan which was formulated to be in line with the objectives of the
ASEAN Cooperation and Joint Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion
Scheme. The new Strategic Plan of Action (SPA) for the ACC for the period of 2016-2020 was
formulated during the 19th ACC Meeting in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. The SPA was further
reviewed in the 23rd Meeting of the Joint Committee on ASEAN Cooperation and Joint
Approaches in Agriculture and Forest Products Promotion Scheme (JCM) where the AMS was
2
requested to resubmit the SPA based on the new Strategic Thrusts. The new SPA for the ACC
was then endorsed in the 24th JCM held on 18-20 July 2017 in Seam Reap, Cambodia. This year,
this Meeting will focus on implementing the existing and new activities and programmes
formulated under the SPA that will be meaningful and benefit to all the AMS.

Before concluding, once again I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the ACC
Secretariat and the Organizing Committee and all the relevant agencies from the public and
private sectors, who have worked diligently and tirelessly in ensuring the continuous success of
the ACC Meetings.

I hope all the delegates will have an effective and fruitful discussion to further enhance our
collaborative efforts in strengthening and enhancing long term competitiveness of ASEAN cocoa
and cocoa products in the international platform.

Thank you.

DATIN NORHAINI UDIN

Chairperson of the ASEAN Cocoa Club/
Director General of Malaysian Cocoa Board