Case study: Helping a client to understand the impact of the ASEAN Free Trade Area on their business
Sector and Market
Processed food manufacturer and exporter based in Australia.
The challenge
Our client, a major processed food manufacturer in Australia, came to us with the question:
We keep hearing about the ASEAN Free Trade Area but don’t know whether it will have an impact on our domestic business or our exports. We are a bit concerned about it because one of our competitors has invested in ASEAN and there are some locally made products in ASEAN that also compete on the fringes of our target markets. Can you tell us what the impact is likely to be so we can factor it into our future business and marketing plans?
How we helped
We performed a detailed research into the regulatory aspects of the developing ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and their impact of the market and industry, the strategies of the client’s competitors and the changes that have been taking place in trade flows throughout ASEAN and to and from Australia over the previous 5 years.
From our study, we developed a detailed SWOT and problem analysis for the client and a scenario planning workshop to assist the client to brainstorm through, and understand, what was likely to happen over a 5 to 10 year period in the future based on the change agents that were identified by our study.
Lessons learned by the client
The client learnt that being in Australia does not isolate a business from the impact of the ASEAN Free Trade Area. It also learnt that several multinationals have already changed their regional business strategies and increased their operational efficiencies to accommodate the new economies of scale of a new Asia (ASEAN)-Australia/New Zealand regional market focus and that these strategies will continue to evolve as the ASEAN Free Trade Area develops into a fully fledged free trading area over the next 10 years or so.
Project outcomes
The client has developed a more proactive forward thinking business strategy that considers how it will deal with the competition that will develop within its ASEAN markets and in Australia as its domestic market opens to ASEAN exporters. Its new strategy includes a new element; investment, production and strategic partnering outside Australia, which was not part of its original long standing business strategy.
Tel: (+65) 6334 7030 Fax: (+65) 6223 2010 Assisting clients to identify and develop profitable business opportunities in the food, drink and agrifood markets of East Asia since 1991