Improving Horticultural Export Performance of Developing Countries in Asia

Many developing countries in Asia have a comparative advantage in the production of horticultural commodities with favourable growth prospects in world markets due to relatively high income and price elasticities. As a result, the horticultural sector has traditionally been an important source of foreign exchange earnings in Taiwan, China, the Philippines and (more recently) Thailand and Malaysia. On the other hand, the performance of potentially significant exporters in South Asia has been disappointing. Drawing from the widely diverging experiences of six countries, it is concluded that government policies significantly influence horticultural export performance. To meet strict consumers' specifications in importing countries, maximum cooperation is needed between the private export sector, the public sector and growers