Thailand-Japan platform primed to kick off in May
The government plans to kick off the Thailand-Japan e-marketplace platform next month, aiming to generate transaction value of 1.6 billion baht this year.
The two countries last year signed a memorandum of understanding to develop SME efficiency, in line with the government’s Industry 4.0 initiative.
The two sides will establish the e-marketplaces in both countries — Thailand Good Technology (T-GoodTech) and Japan Good Technology (J-GoodTech) — aiming to attract myriad SMEs and create business matching opportunities.
T-GoodTech is one of nine of the government’s SME measures forming part of the digital value chain scheme.
The nine SME measures are Industry Transformation Centre, SME Support Centre, Train the Coach, SME Big Data, Big Brothers, Digital Value Chain, Financial Literacy, SME Standard Up and Local Economy.
The Thai government, in particular, aims to help Thai SMEs enter foreign markets.
Kobchai Sungsitthisawad, director-general of the Industry Promotion Department, said the government aims to attract 1,600 local SMEs to connect with the J-GoodTech.
He said the government has already selected 1,365 firms to join this programme, while the Japanese side has registered 17,151 firms with 7,462 products to be sold on J-GoodTech.
“The government has great expectations that this bilateral scheme will boost the competitiveness of Thai SMEs, helping them expand their market presence in other countries and connect with business partners abroad,” Mr Kobchai said.
“In the near future, we will expand partnerships in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar, and then enter other Asean countries.”
He said the Industry Ministry has teamed up with local SMEs, Regional Innovation of Japan and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for the scheme.
Citing data compiled by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, he said the Thai e-commerce market was valued at 2.8 trillion baht in 2017, up 9.9% year-on-year.
Business-to-business represented 1.67 trillion baht or 59.6%, while business-toconsumer made up 812 billion or 28.9%.
Business-to-government generated 324 billion baht or 11.6%.