Illustrative image. (Photo: Thai PBS)Bangkok (VNA) - The Ministry of Commerce (MOC)of Thailand has pledged to take measures to drive the government's soft powerdevelopment policy with a focus on promoting Thai cultural products worldwide through a "5F" approach,referring to food, film, fashion, fighting and festivals, local mediareported.
According to Phusit RatanakulSereroengrit, Director-General of the MOC's Department of International TradePromotion (DITP), the government recognises these areas as potentialvehicles for soft power, adding that the ministry will coordinate with the Ministry of Cultureand the Ministry of Tourism and Sports topush the soft power policy forward.
DITP was tasked with encouraging entrepreneursto export products with a special focus on changing their mindset toincorporate more Thai culture and values. The goal is to ensure they areaccepted internationally, particularly in the areas of food, film, fashion,lifestyle products and digital content.
Data from the Ministry of Culture revealed the film industry was worth 34.1 billion baht (988 millionUSD) in 2021. The Digital Economy Promotion Agency's data valued the softwareindustry at 163 billion baht, games at 37.1 billion baht, animation at 3.39billion baht and characters at 1.6 billion baht.
In addition, the productionof foreign films and content production via contracts have also recordedsignificant growth in recent years.
According to Phusit, thedepartment wants to prioritise key export markets, including the US, Europe,India, mainland China, Hong Kong, East Asia and the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN), focusing on building confidence and promoting a positiveimage of Thai products and services.
He said this goal would be attainedthrough initiatives such as the certification of Thai restaurants using theThai Select seal provided by the Ministry of Commerce worldwide, participation ininternational film festivals in the US, the Republic of Korea and France, andexport promotion of health, wellness and spa products within ASEAN, the MiddleEast and Europe.
Thai Select is part of theThai Kitchen World Cuisine programme introduced in 2006 aiming to take advantage of theglobal popularity of the country's cuisine.
Phusit emphasised thatThailand will strive to promote its identity in fashion and lifestyle productsthroughout Asia countries, Australia, Europe and the US via international tradefairs such as STYLE Bangkok.
Thailand's food export valuetallied 946 billion baht in 2022, up 16% year-on-year. This year, the ministry aims to achieve 5%growth, capitalising on the high potential of the food security sector, hesaid, adding that it is also targeting 14% growth in digital content exports./.
