Eight strategies drawn up for 2015

The International Trade Promotion Department has drawn up eight strategies to promote trade in goods and service, as well as investment next year.

In a bid to ensure effective implementation of the plan, Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya will chair a department meeting involving other department officials, overseas trade officials and private enterprises between October 18-21 in Bangkok.

Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director-general to the department, said the aim of the strategies was to ensure a continuous increase in exports and products onto the world market as well as ensure the competitiveness of the country’s enterprises globally. Nuntawan said the first strategy involved giving exporters every possible chance to reap the benefits of free-trade agreements (FTA) and Asean economic integration. She said the department would encourage more exporters to tap benefits from tariff privileges and penetrate the Asean market. It would also organise many activities related to export promotion in countries that Thailand had FTA with and the nine other Asean countries.

Secondly, the department would promote agricultural products and food stringently, as the products had local content of almost 100 per cent, in order to help farmers and producers. It would promote the products to overseas supermarkets and through Thai restaurants abroad. Nuntawan said the department would also provide more “Thai Select” certificates to high-quality Thai restaurants to emphasis authenticity and excellent dishes.

In the third strategy, she said the department would promote Thailand as a trading nation and its enterprises as internationalised companies, while encouraging more traders to trade overseas through the many training projects and missions.

The fourth idea centred on greater promotion of value-added and brand products and helping develop packaging and product design.

Nuntawan said the fifth strategy involved the department developing products and services under cluster promotions so enterprises deliver products in the same supply chain to serve the particular demand in each market.

In the sixth and seventh strategies, it would attempt to create a positive image of Thailand under the “Thailand Trust Mark” project, and aid exporters so they receive benefits from the media, online trading and digital content when promoting their products and services worldwide.

Finally, the department would develop human resources to serve exporters.