The Commerce Ministry plans to promote the export of Thai organic herbs, aiming to create added value for the sector and tap into a global market worth trillions of baht annually.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the ministry has set a strategy to promote Thai herbs by linking them to other growing sectors, such as spas, food, drugs and cosmetics, because herbs can be blended and applied in those fields.
"We plan to promote organic Thai herbs. We should have strength in the global market because there is high demand for organic herbs, as people become more health-conscious. If we can penetrate the market, we can help increase the prices of Thai herbs," said Mrs Apiradi.
Prior to this herbal export promotion project, the ministry had assigned the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce's Centre for International Trade Studies (CITS) to do research on how to add value to Thai herb exports, accomplishing it by meeting international standards for sale in markets abroad.
CITS found the global herbs market is valued at 3.8 trillion baht a year.
But Thailand, which is a major producer of Asian herbs, has failed to capitalise on those huge markets because of faulty marketing plans, as most Thai exporters sell herbs that are dried commodity-grade, which are only worth 1 billion baht a year.
Mrs Apiradi said the ministry will start promoting four herbs -- turmeric, Asiatic pennywort, phai and fingerroot -- as the study found that these herbs are widely used in food, drugs and cosmetics, which would make it easier for them to reach consumers.
"We will encourage farmers to grow more herbs as well as start our promotion plans to support them," she said.
Mrs Apiradi said the ministry's representatives in foreign countries would study regulations and standards there concerning food and drugs to help smooth the export of Thai herbs to more safely penetrate other markets.
The ministry will start its herbal marketing plan in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, where consumers are familiar with Asian herbs. Then it will widen its plan to include other markets such as the EU and the US, where people are concerned more about health and increasingly prefer organic products.