The Industry Ministry will propose the cabinet approve a new project named the Eastern Fruit Corridor (EFC) to be the first fruit auction market in Thailand, with an investment of 1.58 billion baht.
Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana said this project aims to support future growth in the government's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme.
He said the EFC project will work with parties from the government, private sector and local growers.
The fruit auction market should help local growers negotiate fair prices as they do not have much bargaining power with middlemen, said Mr Uttama.
The fruit auction market is tentatively located at the Smart Park Industrial Estate in Rayong, one of the EEC provinces. The government is conducting a feasibility study on the project, looking at investor interest and the project's viability this year.
The project is scheduled for construction next January, with operations and services for local farmers planned from 2020 onward.
"We expect Thailand's fruit auction market to generate investment and trade value of 51 billion baht," he said.
Mr Uttama said the EFC project will apply the business model used by the Netherlands's flower market.
The government wants this scheme to help local farmers gain a higher quality of life and improve the environment and society, under a social enterprise model.
Deputy Industry Minister Somchai Harnhirun said the government wants to promote and increase value-added fruit products to help farm households gain more income.
Moreover, local firms in eastern provinces want the government to sort out city planning for the industrial sector. Chanthaburi, for example, has one of the leading supply chains for fruit products.
"They want to invest further and construct cold storage facilities for fruits and the city planning for the industrial zone is aimed at strengthening the local fruit supply chain, including processed fruit products," said Mr Somchai.
The government forecasts investment value of 1 billion baht from 20 local investors for the cold storage project.
