Hey it's good to be back home again

Thanks to the magic of the international dates line, I left Bangkok at 4 a.m. Saturday and by 5:30 p.m. that same day I landed in KC. One day in the office Monday and then I'm off to the Washington Public Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. from Tuesday until Friday. There is much to process about the AsiaFruit Congress and Asia Fruit Logistica, but there probably won't be a lot of time for retrospection. I will try to post a couple of reports from some of the sessions, though - particularly the retail panel, which featured pretty candid exchanges with suppliers.

My flight back home was uneventful. On the Bangkok to Tokyo leg I sat next to an American whose technology company has four plants in Asia to complement its home plant in North Carolina. On the next leg I sat next to a guy from Wichita who had married a Chinese woman over a year ago and is still trying to get her immigration papers approved by the U.S. so she can move to the U.S. with him.

American interaction with Asia and China is bound to increase on business and personal levels in the years ahead. An interesting presentation by Rabobank at the AsiaFruit Congress revealed that there are somewhat mixed views about China's future as an f/v exporter and importer. More on that session in some coverage from The Packer.