Agribusiness and trade: friends or foes?

Agricultural market developments have attracted considerable attention recently, due to increasing consumer food prices and sharp short term price fluctuations of agricultural commodity prices.

Moreover, global shifts in health, wealth and population are moving the world from a period of commodity abundance to scarcity.  Efficiency and profitability are primary goals for modern agribusinesses as they strive to achieve operational excellence while meeting increased demand. New business opportunities could boost growth, improve production, guarantee the highest quality for the consumer and, last but not least, create jobs opportunities.

Furthermore, analyses of the price boom in 2007- 2009 by the OECD and the World Bank showed the increasing interdependence between the macroeconomic environment and agriculture, especially as far as trade policies are concerned. Agricultural trade helps to answer food production shortages due to climatic or other reasons: on this note, TTIP represents the opportunity to contribute to the prosperity of farmers, industries and consumers by facilitating further trade liberalization on a global scale.

The event saw the participation of many distinguished guests:

Maurizio Martina, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies, Rome

Arancha Gonzalez, Executive Director, International Trade Centre, The  Hague

Paolo De Castro, Member of the European Parliament, Brussels

Lorenzo Terzi, Head of Unit, G7-Bilateral International Relations, Directorate General Health and Food Safety, European Commission, Brussels

Danielle Nierenberg, President, Food Tank, New York, NY

Andrea Illy, Chairman and CEO, Illy Caffè, Trieste

Paola Testori Coggi, former Director General Health and Consumer, European Commission, Milan

Michael Punke, Deputy United States Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization, Geneva

Anthony L. Gardner, US Ambassador to the EU, United State Mission to the European Union, Brussels

Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, Member of the European Parliament, Brussels

Jean Luc Demarty, Director General for Trade, European Commission, Brussels

Mircea Dan Geoana, Senator; President, Aspen Institute Romania, Bucharest

Alessandra Galloni, Editor, Southern Europe Enterprise Editor at Large, Reuters Group, London

Dan Glickman, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program