Trusting Trade and the Private Sector for Food Security in Southeast Asia

By Hamid R. Alavi, Aira Htenas, Ron Kopicki and 2 more

Trusting Trade and the Private Sector for Food Security in Southeast Asia challenges policy
makers who oversee the rice sector in Southeast Asia and reexamines deep-rooted precepts
about their responsibilities. The authors argue that fixating on national self-sufficiency has
been costly and counterproductive, and cooperation can both improve rice production
at home and expand regional trade. Trusting Trade specifically examines private sector
participation in the rice and (yellow) maize markets in five countries in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and
Vietnam. The study identifies both the private sector’s potential role in providing greater
regional food security and feasible ways to strengthen public and private sector cooperation
in managing regional food supply chains. Trusting Trade also examines actionable ways to
deepen and strengthen regional markets that support trade in food staples.

The study’s recommendations are meant to be implemented primarily through new forms
of partnerships between the public and private sectors. Trusting Trade will be of interest to
policy makers in the ASEAN member states and its development partners as well as others
interested in food security, supply chains, and trade in Southeast Asia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: World Bank Publications
• Release date: Dec 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9780821386262

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