Trademark-intensive sectors add great value, employment to major Asean economies: report
A new impact study released on Tuesday by the International Trademark Association (INTA) reports that industries which intensively use trademarks contribute significantly to five major Asean economies, including Thailand.
Analysis from “The Economic Contribution of Trademark-Intensive Industries in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand” report indicates that trademark-intensive activities generate increased employment across sectors and add contributions to international trade.
Trademark-intensive industries are defined as those industries which file more trademarks than other industries – weighted against total employment in that sector.
The release of the report coincides with the 50th anniversary of Asean, which has grown to become the world’s seventh-largest market and home to the third-largest labour force.
INTA commissioned the report from Frontier Economics, an internationally recognised economics research firm.
The study is the first of its kind to analyse the correlation between trademarks and their economic impact on contribution to gross domestic product (GDP), share of exports, and employment in major markets of Southeast Asia.
Specifically, looking at data from 2012 to 2015, trademark-intensive industries within Thailand generated a 22-per-cent direct contribution to GDP and a 40-per-cent indirect contribution, reflecting a direct correlation between trademark-intensive and non-trademark intensive industries.
In terms of employment, output and value-added, workers at trademark-intensive industries’ share of the Thai labour force represented 13 per cent of total employment.
Trademark-intensive industries in Thailand comprised 60 per cent of the country’s share of exports, including manufacturing of computers, electronics and related equipment, and motor vehicles which each accounted for around 13 per cent of total manufacturing, value-added.
“In Thailand, manufacturing constitutes a trademark-intensive sector that yields considerable economic contributions for the country’s economy. Findings from the study also indicate that even non-trademark intensive industries in Thailand are heavily supported by trademark-intensive industries,” said INTA member Jakkrit Kuanpoth, of counsel at Tilleke & Gibbons in Bangkok.
“This new study reinforces the notion that trademark-intensive activities play a pivotal role in driving innovation, accelerating economic development, and strengthening international trade for Thailand as the country enacts the new ‘Thailand 4.0’ strategy,” he added.
