Some 100 food and beverage (F&B) companies from the 10 ASEAN member countries are taking part in the ongoing 2017 ASEAN Trade Fair, themed "Taste the Happiness", held from Oct. 25 to Oct. 28 in Seoul.

The fair, which is running in conjunction with the largest international food fair in Korea, Food Week Korea, was opened by ASEAN-Korea Center secretary-general Kim Young-sun and witnessed by ASEAN's country ambassadors.

The Indonesian Embassy in Korea's commercial attaché, Aksamil Khair, said on Thursday in Seoul that South Korea was a potential market for Indonesian food products, with its 50 million population and US$30,000 income per capita.

He said, however, that  the country set a high import tariff on particular agriculture products, although tax incentives were given to several certificate of origin (COO) products according to ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) signed in 2009.

“But not all Indonesian F&B exporters are aware of this,” Aksamil added.

He also said that Vietnam and Singapore had aleady signed an FTA in bilateral talks with the Korean government, which made their products highly competitive in Korea.

Meanwhile, Indonesian processed food exports to Korea remained low compared to several other ASEAN countries, exporting $111 million in processed food products to Korea in 2016.

Among ASEAN countries, the Philippines was the top processed food exporter to Korea last year with $476 million, followed by Thailand with $399 million, Vietnam with $312 million and Malaysia with $132 million. (bbn)