The Thai government plans to actively persuade its Asean neighbours to capitalise on the immense global demand for organic products from the region, potentially valued at trillions of baht.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said Thailand would push forward the plan to attract Asean countries to become part of a joint effort to promote organic products from the region by setting up the Asean Organic Farming Confederation soon.
She said the first meeting of the confederation is due to take place soon to chalk out plans and activities that could help increase the sales of Asean organic food and other products as well as to figure out the promotion plans.
The attempt is aimed at tapping into the rising health-conscious trend among major buyers such as Europe and the US, where consumers are ready to pay higher prices for high quality organic products.
According to the Commerce Ministry data, the Thai market for organic products stands at 4 billion baht. One-quarter of the revenue comes from exports, which are poised to grow at 10% a year.
Moreover, the global market is worth US$72 billion baht, or 2.3 trillion baht, with a 12.8% forecast for annual growth.
Speaking at the inaugural Organic & Natural Expo 2017, which began yesterday at the Queen Sirikit Convention Center in Bangkok and is scheduled to last until the end of July, Mrs Apiradi told more than 200 Thai organic goods producers at the event to promote their products effectively.
She said the government would continue to hold such fairs every year as it could put buyers and foreign importers in direct contact with the Thai organic goods producers and increase exports of their products.
"The plan to push for a regional body with wider cooperation among Asean countries would be a good strategy as it could help increase our bargaining power since we are bonded together as the Asean bloc," said Mrs Apiradi.
With an aim to increase organic production, the government has mainly focused on organic rice and allotted additional areas covering 1 million rai for its plantations, expecting to get higher yields as the produce is popular among Thais with urban lifestyles.
"At the same time, we would also start campaigns to encourage Thai people to switch to eating organic rice," she said.
Suwanna Jiwattanapaiboon, chief executive of Xongdur Thai Organic Food Co Ltd, said it was a good move to promote healthy organic foods. However, she added that the government's policies sometimes contradict each other which could affect its plans to boost the organic products.
She said the government wants to promote organic rice by increasing its plantations but at the same time it is offering soft loans to farmers to buy chemical fertilisers and pesticides, which could harm the reputation of the Thai organic products.