The Finance Minister has ordered the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to upgrade its existing online platform for agricultural products to add value so they can be sold on Chinese e-commerce sites.
Thai farm produce should be promoted on Lazada or Alibaba e-commerce platforms, says Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana.
The mandate comes as local news reports indicate Mr Uttama, along with Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, deputy secretary-general of the Prime Minister's Office Kobsak Pootrakul and two other ministers overseeing the Energy Ministry and the Higher Education, Science and Innovations Ministry, resigned from their positions on Wednesday.
Earlier, Mr Uttama, Energy Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong and Higher Education, Science and Innovations Minister Suvit Maesincee said they were leaving the Palang Pracharath Party that leads the government coalition.
The BAAC has been ordered to develop an existing online platform to become a quality channel to sell farm produce in the future, said Mr Uttama.
The desired outcome is to enhance these agricultural products to be sold on upgraded e-commerce platforms such as Lazada or Alibaba, he said.
BAAC senior executive vice-president Somkiat Kimawaha said the bank's online trading platform, named A Farm Mart, is a collaboration between Thai Agri Business and Information Technology Group. It was launched last year with 1,247 products on offer.
Product sales have been tepid because of the government's previous lockdown measures, said Mr Somkiat.
In addition to the difficulty of cross-province logistics, waning consumer purchasing power is another factor contributing to lacklustre sales of online farm produce, he said.
The BAAC aims to increase the number of products on the platform to 1,750 items and has set a 5-10% increase in its sales target from last year's tally of 161 million baht.
BAAC officers in each province have been instructed to expedite area surveys to assess whether products are compatible with quality standards to be sold online.
In the past, the best-selling products have been consumer products such as brown rice, riceberry, A-brand jasmine rice and seasonal fruit.
