The Role of Supply Chains and International Networks in Enhancing the Agricultural Sector’s Competitiveness in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV)

The expansion of supermarkets in Asia typifies the effects of the increasing liberalization in trade and the inflow of foreign investment. The supermarket revolution thus occupies a focal point in this paper which tracks its phenomenal growth in Asia, and its continuing inroads into CLMV – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Given the significant transformation that this major development is expected to bring into these countries’ agricultural sector as well as food distribution systems, the paper examines the growing role of supply chain management. The value-adding potential at each level of the chain will allow agriculture to drive overall development by leveraging on the nations’ advantage at the input, processing, wholesale and retail trade as well as international trade levels. The initial successes in Myanmar and Vietnam are highlighted. In the wake of these developments, the paper emphasizes the glaring need to address the issue of how to balance the interests of the key players along the supply chain with that of the national interest, and how to gear up for globalization while also strengthening internal structures and institutions. The challenge is to ensure the orderly and balanced development of supply chains. Specifically, the respective governments would need to launch focused and holistic interventions that would not only manage the supply chains and international networks, but also minimize the marginalization of small farmers and other stakeholders.