The North Dakota Trade Office (NDTO) will host a delegation of 10 value-added food buyers from Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand during the Southeast Asia Reverse Trade Mission, held September 10-13 in the Red River Valley.
Reverse Trade Missions provide a unique opportunity to foster business relationships and build long-lasting partnerships between North Dakota businesses and overseas partners through one-on-one meetings, exhibitions and facility tours. During the Southeast Asia Reverse Mission, foreign delegates will tour the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Agronomy Seed Farm in Casselton and the NDSU CBOT system in Fargo, meet with a number of food-grade soybean producers and attend educational seminars at the Northern Crops Institute (NCI) in Fargo.
Each year, the U.S. exports nearly 60 million bushels of soybeans at a premium for food-grade use, and Asia is the largest customer. Because of improved economies in Southeast Asia and evolving tastes, end users are demanding higher-quality products and are willing to pay more for them. Many Southeast Asian buyers want traceable, high-quality food-grade soybeans to satisfy the demand, and the Red River Valley is the largest U.S. producer of these products.
NDTO is coordinating the Southeast Asia Reverse Trade Mission with the help of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture and the American Soybean Association (ASA). Following the mission, foreign delegates will travel to New Orleans to attend the seventh annual Soy & Grain Trade Summit, Sept. 17-19. The event will offer attendees an opportunity to discuss strategies for sustainable growth in agricultural production, processing, and transportation on a global basis, and examine the developing trends in the commodity, food, biofuels and animal feed sectors.