ASEAN Packaging Conference held in Manila, The Philippines
Organised to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of ASEAN - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations - The ASEAN Packaging Conference successfully supported the dialogue around sustainable packaging in the Region. Jointly organised and implemented by The Philippines National Organizing Committee (ASEAN-NOC), the Packaging Institute of the Philippines and other partners, the Conference was held in Manilla’s Pasay City on 26 and 27 October, 2017. The Conference sought to promote collaboration among the ASEAN countries in (1) conducting packaging research and development, (2) addressing packaging regulations that hamper the competitiveness of ASEAN products, and (3) developing packaging standards that would be beneficial to ASEAN countries.
Dr. Rosa Rolle, Senior Enterprise Development Officer at The Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations and Team Leader of the Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction (SAVE FOOD), gave a keynote presentation entitled The Role of Packaging in Reducing Post-Harvest Losses in Developing and Emerging Economies on day one. During the presentation, Dr. Rolle emphasised the importance of introducing simple cost-effective technologies for post-harvest management. Dr. Rolle also highlighted how the use of durable plastic crates in tomato supply chains in Southeast Asia have significantly reduced post-harvest losses and improved farmer incomes.