Officials from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plan to visit Thailand on May 11 to develop bilateral collaborations with the government to promote small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) entering global e-commerce channels.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said the Japanese government wants to follow up on a promotional programme for Thai SMEs after both countries signed a memorandum of understanding to develop SME efficiency in line with the government's Industry 4.0 initiative.
"The Thai government is speeding up progress on the SME agreement because we only have one year left before the national elections," Mr Somkid said during his visit to the Industry Ministry yesterday. "We expect many SME initiatives started will be mobilised further by a newly elected government."
One Thai-Japanese collaboration is T-Good Tech, an e-marketplace in Thailand set to connect with J-Good Tech in Japan.
In 2018, the government expects 2,600 Thai SMEs to join this e-commerce platform.
After a meeting with high-ranking officials at the Industry Ministry, Mr Somkid said the government was focused on the Creative Industry Village (CIV).
The CIV is a 22-billion-baht state project intended to help villages, SMEs and farmers increase income under the Pracha Rat (People's State) initiative.
The ministry aims to develop 160 villages in 76 provinces under the CIV.
Moreover, the project is set to connect the tourism sector, enhancing integration between villages and community enterprises.
"Led by the Industry Ministry, we have to seek deep information in each province, then create data to connect local products with the tourism business nationwide," Mr Somkid said. "We aim for the local young generation to participate in the CIV programme."
Nonetheless, Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana said the ministry plans to meet provincial industry officials for talks about the CIV project next month.
"An important issue for local SMEs is creating attractive packaging designs for local products, which the ministry wants to help them with," he said.
Moreover, Mr Uttama said villagers need more help to build up their businesses under the ministry's farmer-to-entrepreneur project.
The government aims for villagers to build up and strengthen their enterprises, the industry minister said, as they will form the bulk of people who will develop the country's economy at a provincial level in the long run.
