APEC Endorses WTO Investment Facilitation Agreement
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has officially endorsed the WTO’s Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement. The move signals a regional commitment to simplifying investment rules and aligning regulations to promote smoother cross-border capital flows. This is expected to ease future investments in sectors including agri-food.
- The Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, finalized in November 2023, focuses on making investment processes more transparent and efficient by standardizing rules, but explicitly does not cover market access, investment protection, or investor-state dispute settlement. - India, a major rice market competitor, has actively blocked the agreement's formal integration into the WTO framework, arguing it falls outside the WTO's mandate and that such "plurilateral" deals undermine the organization's consensus-based principles. - While Thailand supports the agreement, its rice export strategy aligns with APEC's broader goals of developing a Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy, a key policy promoted during its 2022 APEC chairmanship to appeal to quality-conscious buyers. - In the competitive rice market, Vietnam is shifting its strategy to focus on higher-value fragrant rice while planning a gradual reduction of total export volume to 4 million tonnes by 2030. This move, combined with India's anticipated return to full export capacity, is expected to increase global supply and intensify competition. - For exporters targeting Europe, compliance with the new EU organic regulation (EU 2018/848) is mandatory, requiring all organic imports to have an electronic Certificate of Inspection (e-COI) administered through the TRACES system. - The Asia-Pacific rice market is projected to grow from USD 391.12 billion in 2026 to USD 476.34 billion by 2031, with rising middle-class incomes driving demand for premium, organic, and specialty varieties. - Currency fluctuations directly impact export profitability, with some forecasts suggesting the Thai Baht to Euro (THB/EUR) exchange rate could reach approximately €0.02766 by the end of 2026.
