ACC Brings Together Global Delegation To Network, Grow Relationships, Trade

A cornerstone buyers’ conference in the Southeast Asia region, the U.S. Agricultural Cooperators Conference (ACC), hosted jointly by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and the U.S. Wheat Associates, has actively served the region for nearly 20 years.

This year’s event, Globalization 2.0: Building Bridges for Food Security, Sustainability and Innovation, addressed the pressing global challenges of food security, sustainability and innovation, while emphasizing the need to build bridges that facilitate collaboration, knowledge exchange and transformative action. The event brought together experts, thought leaders and stakeholders from diverse fields to spark conversations and ignite change around the world.

While providing educational opportunities for those in attendance, ACC is also an opportunity for the Council’s U.S. exporter members to market their products and engage with buyers from around the globe in one setting. Along with buyer delegations from the Southeast Asia region, the Council invited constituencies from China, South Korea, South Asia and Taiwan this year to provide greater opportunities for the exporters present.

“We continue to strive to keep this conference fresh and relevant,” said Caleb Wurth, USGC Southeast Asia and Oceania regional director. “In acknowledgment that travel is getting more and more difficult these days, we decided to bring an even more diverse group of customers to our member exporters than ever before. Having broader Asian participation was well received by our members.”

To help deliver specific policy and commercial goals in the region, Council staff welcomed two teams – focused on corn/ethanol and sorghum – to Vietnam ahead of ACC to take part in side missions. The missions included high-level government meetings in Hanoi aimed at furthering the Council’s ethanol policy objectives in Vietnam in addition to meetings with culinary chefs in Ho Chi Minh City as the Council develops its new food sorghum promotion programs.

“These missions coincided with the historic double upgrading of U.S. diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Our simultaneous government and commercial engagements in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, capstoned by the ACC in DaNang, shows the vigorous effort of the Council to facilitate new opportunities for mutual trade and development in Vietnam,” Wurth said.

Vietnam continues its journey toward its sustainable development objectives to fully utilize ethanol in its road transportation sector as well as provide market access for high premium consumer goods.

“It is clear buyers in the region place an immense amount of trust in the USGC and look to the country reps as a source of technical knowledge, understanding of issues and trade flows. I continue to be impressed with the USGC staff and their level of engagement with each country,” said Ryan Sauer, vice president of market development for the Iowa Corn Growers Association, who joined the Council at the ACC.