Trade Performance of Fruit and Vegetable Industry in Selected ASEAN Countries

This paper examines the trade performance for thirteen commodities in the fruit and vegetable industry in relation to that of selected ASEAN countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand), based on Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) indicator. The analysis shows that Singapore has comparative advantage in 5 commodities (ground-nuts, hazelnuts, plums, apricots and walnuts), Philippines has comparative advantage in 3 commodities (tomatoes nes prepared or preserved, tomatoes whole or in peaces and cherries), Thailand and Malaysia has comparative advantage in 2 commodities (citrus fruits, fruit and vegetable juice, and tomatoes and apple juice, respectively) while Indonesia has comparative advantage in 1 commodity (cashew nuts). Malaysia has comparative advantage only in tomatoes and apple juice but comparative disadvantage in other commodities such as cashew nuts, walnuts and fruit and vegetable juice. The RCA index for apple juice in Malaysia is increasing over the years 2000 to 2006 indicating improvement in comparative advantage. However, the comparative advantage of tomatoes is constant