Population growth will lead to more demand for food in the region.Ottawa—As important as it already is, the Indo-Pacific region could become an even more important customer for Canadian agrifood exports, says Farm Credit Canada.Five of the 40 countries in the region are already significant agrifood customers and many of the others are untapped export markets, FCC says. Last fall, the federal government launched its Indo-Pacific Strategy to boost exports among other goals.The region already comprises more than one-third of all global economic activity and that is expected to reach half by 2040. During that time, it will become Canada's second-largest regional export market.Currently the 10 largest agrifood exports to the Indu-Paciic are by value wheat, canola oil, bread, canola seed, crustaceans, dried legumes, pork, fresh beef, soybeans and chocolate. These shipments, worth $50.5 billion, accounted for 55 per cent of Canada's total agrifood exports.China is the biggest customer with sales totaling $9.4 billion in 2022. Canola seed was tops followed by wheat, shipments of which grew from $200 million to more than $1.1 billion between 2017 and 2022. Sales of canola and canola oil have fallen, FCC said.While India will become the world's largest country by population in 2030, Canada's agrifood exports to it are surprisingly small with dried legumes accounting for 87.2 per cent of the shipments.With a population of 125.7 million and a small land base, Japan is one of the top three export markets for Canada's with canola, wheat and soybeans, pork and beef the best sellers. Canadian exports there surpassed $5.3 billion in 2022. Canola seed accounted for just over one-quarter of the sales with wheat making up 20 per cent and soybeans another 7 per cent. Japan imported 18 per cent of Canada's total pork exports and 6.4 per cent of total beef shipments.During the last five years, pork exports to Japan have declined in value, while beef export values increased significantly from $70 million to $230 million for frozen meat and from $64 million to $113 million for fresh and chilled beef. “There's room to grow here, too: as a member of the CPTPP, Japan will provide preferential access to Canadian exporters,” FCC said. “A separate, bilateral free trade agreement between Canada and Japan is currently in negotiations.”South Korea represents a growing and lucrative food export market for Canada as it is the only major economy in the region that shares a signed free trade agreement already in force with Canada.Each of Canada's top 10 exports to South Korea grew in value between 2017 and 2022 – the only country of the top Indo-Pacific countries four where that level of progress was made. Meat comprised the largest export category with 33 per of total exports and 44 per cent counting crustaceans.Frozen beef exports increased from $21.5 million in 2017 to $168 million in 2022, and pork exports grew more than 70 per cent during the same period. Soybeans and wheat are the only ag commodities to make the top 10 list of exported accounting for 15 per cent of total exports in 2022.