The grand opening of the 2021 Asia Agri-Tech Expo & Forum took place on Nov. 11. While COVID-19 pandemic continues and hampers physical business activities, aiming to promote the internationalization of agri-tech enterprises, the Council of Agriculture (COA) has invited a total of 24 exceptional Taiwanese agricultural companies in the categories of agriculture and food, aquaculture, and livestock to jointly participate in the Asia Agri-Tech Expo's online business platform. In addition to displaying the commercialization achievements of agricultural technology through Expo’s official website, it also features the Asia Livestock Hub-365 eMarket platform. In this platform, foreign buyers are able to learn about Taiwan’s exceptional agri-tech and even meet with Taiwanese suppliers who wish to expand their international market without any geographical and Covid-19 restrictions, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The COA stated that the theme of this year are  agricultural installations and material’s application on agri-food, aquaculture, and livestock. Through the exhibition of commercialized technologies, materials, and services, the show presents outstanding achievements in the industrialization of Taiwan's smart agriculture, cloud farming and biopharmaceuticals. The part of agricultural installations showcases how smart information system is used in poultry houses, aquaculture, dairy cattle health management, and crop field cultivation, among others. It integrates sensors, automatic control equipment and APP management services into smart agriculture system to fully meet growth requirements, improving production efficiency, and stays in line with the agricultural net zero objective. In terms of agricultural material, what is emphasized is the development of new high-quality biopharmaceuticals that provides excellent composite products for agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture industries to effectively reduce pest damages and achieve feed efficiency optimization, while complying with the concept of friendly environment and sustainable development. In addition, the demonstration of the technology and equipment used in biogas-generated electricity, and fishery and electricity symbiosis projects also highlight Taiwan agriculture’s determination to promote the development of the green energy industry.

The COA stated that the Expo is a professional agricultural technology exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region. This is its 5^th edition since the show was introduced in 2017. The organizers hoped that it can create a professional B2B agricultural technology exchange platform and a one-stop procurement platform for the Asia-Pacific region. In the 2020 edition, the COA set up the Taiwan Agricultural Technology Pavilion centering on Taiwanese agricultural enterprises. During the exhibition, 329 on-site business meetings were conducted, and 14 sets of online matchmaking were completed. Post-exhibition effectiveness tracking showed that the cumulative increase in turnover reached NTD 7.66 million, and related investment increase reached NTD 10.5 million, indicating that the concurrent physical exhibition + virtual trade meetings model yields substantial benefits. This would help guide Taiwan's agricultural enterprises to engage in a new form of agricultural marketing in the post-pandemic era.

The COA pointed out that the Expo’s display mode this year is adjusted to that of the digital platform, and by assisting the agribusinesses to show their products on the virtual display room of the Expo’s official website, domestic and foreign buyers can understand the characteristics of the products through the said digital platform. Concurrently, a virtual exhibition area of ​​the Taiwan Agricultural Technology Pavilion was also established on the 365 eMarket trade platform which provides exclusive webpages for all participating businesses to display company profiles and product information. Furthermore, it also features an online matchmaking service which allows suppliers to meet with international buyers and seize business opportunities in real time. Buyers can make appointments on the Asia Livestock Hub-365 eMarket from Nov. 1^st and then conduct online business meetings during the Asia Agri-Tech Expo & Forum (Nov. 11-13). Exhibitors of the Agriculture Pavilion have been successively receiving meeting appointments from New Southbound Countries buyers, and the numbers are still increasing. The Expo is expected to encourage Taiwanese agricultural enterprises to enhance their brand's international recognition through participating in international exhibitions.

2021 Asia Agri-Tech Expo & Forum official website (https://www.agritechtaiwan.com/zh-tw/)

Asia Livestock Hub-365 eMarket (https://beplace.thevista.co.th/exhibition/asialivestockhub/home)