120 



In a longer term context, the nature and scope of the current export and food 

 assistance programs will be dramatically altered by several factors: 



1) The global market is undergoing a dynamic change. The market 

 economy comprised about 1 billion people prior to the emerging 

 markets in the Former Soviet Union and China. The challenge now 

 becomes one of integrating the 4 billion people currently outside the 

 existing commercial marketplace into a new global marketplace. This 

 integration will be difficult and unpredictable. 



2) The privatization process occurring in all of the formerly centrally 

 planned economies is dramatically altering the structure of the 

 marketing channels. The days of the "mega-sales" to single buyers 

 are clearly gone. Marketing channels will replace government-to- 

 government negotiations and government will need to retool its staff 

 and programs in recognition of the change. Agriculture and 

 agribusiness will also have to alter its approach to the marketplace and 

 develop new strategies. 



3) Government will never be absent from the food and agriculture 

 marketplace because of its strategic role in domestic economic and 

 political stability. However, in a global environment, domestic 

 policies have external implications. Each government will define a 

 role for itself in each market and U.S. policies must respond to that 

 type of competition. 



4) Infrastructure investment in emerging markets will have to be viewed 

 as a precursor to realizing the benefits of expanded markets. The 

 markets cannot expand without this basic investment and it represents 

 an opportunity for the establishment of a U.S. presence. 



5) The evolution of each of the marketplaces will be distinctly different 

 due to cultural, political and economic realities unique to each 

 marketplace. Generic market development programs are as obsolete 

 as government-to-government trading programs. Trade strategies will 

 have to evolve for each market. 



