WISHH News You Can Use WISHH/ASA Find New Markets
for U.S. Soy in Southeast Asia
Vietnam is Poised to Buy More U.S. High-Protein Soy
Vietnam today offers a warm attitude toward Americans and plenty
of opportunity for sales of U.S. high-protein soy. April was the
30th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, and Vietnam today provides
a benchmark for how U.S. trade relationships with developing countries
can change and grow. The World Initiative for Soy in Human Health
(WISHH) Program and American Soybean Association’s (ASA) international
marketing program staff recently worked together to explore potential
for U.S. high-protein soy in Southeast Asian countries.
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Illinois Soybean Checkoff
Board and WISHH representatives met with leaders of a small
business producing fermented soy products in the Hoa Binh
province of Vietnam. |
“The Vietnamese are fans of soy,” says Illinois Soybean
Checkoff Board Executive Director Lyle Roberts who traveled to Vietnam
in April along with soybean growers and WISHH consultants. “It’s
a country with a great work ethic and they want partnerships. Our
goal is to lower the cost of adding protein in the most sustainable
way.”
They made agreements with the Center for Mountainous Medicine-Biology,
a Vietnamese organization dedicated to serving the poor, mountainous
areas of Vietnam, to work together on school feeding programs, HIV/AIDS
nutrition programs and small business initiatives commonly called
“microenterprise” programs. The team also had meetings
with the American Red Cross and Vietnam Red Cross to explore ways
to incorporate soy into their school snack program and HIV program.
They also conducted soyfoods seminars. The delegation worked closely
with the ASA’s international marketing staff in South East
Asia.
Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand all have traditions of consuming
soyfoods, according to Yeong Boon Yee, ASA's technical director
for human nutrition based in Singapore. Yet per capita consumption
is still quite low in comparison to Singapore and Indonesia (2 kg
versus 10 kg per capita per year). "By expanding the scope
of soy's benefits and consumption, utilization of the U.S. soy protein
complex can be increased," Boon Yee says.
WISHH is designed to create sustainable solutions for the protein
demands of people in developing countries through the introduction
and use of U.S. soy products. "Recognition of the WISHH
program and its involvement in community nutritional improvement
and HIV research can forge
goodwill and opportunities for building partnerships with key
local institutions in both countries," ASA Regional Director
for Southeast Asia John Lindblom says. "If a successful
WISHH project gets underway, there is potential to make a significant
contribution
to the life of the program's target groups, while expanding ASA's
current regional program to improve the health status of the
low
income population through soy-enriched staple products."
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