The Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN) has been encouraging small-scale farms and businesses to leverage free trade agreements to expand their export markets. The DTN Business Plan Award 2022 project was carried out last year as part of this effort. The 10 winning entrepreneurs from the project are now being matched with Chinese importers via online business matching sessions.
DTN Director-General Auramon Supthaweethum delivered certificates to 10 winners of its DTN Business Plan Award contest. The winners are makers of agricultural products, processed agricultural products, and food whose quality conforms to export standards. The products supplied by these businesses include dried fruit, juice, coconut crispy rolls, crunchy brownies, flavored peanuts, shrimp crackers, cocoa, and condiments. The entrepreneurs had engaged in online business matching sessions with 17 Chinese importers from Kunming, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Qingdao, Chengdu, and Hong Kong. A total of 43 matches were made. Interest was also had from modern trade stores and e-commerce platforms. A total of 150 million baht of orders are expected to result from these matching sessions.
DTN Business Plan Award 2022 was the 4th event of its kind. The project is aimed at improving entrepreneurs’ knowledge of FTAs, international trade, marketing, and business planning. One target for the project is to foster export advantages for Thai businesses, especially with respect to the Chinese market. Ms. Auramon indicated the latter is a large market with some 1.4 billion people.
Thailand exported 22.721 billion USD worth of processed agricultural products in 2022. This was a 17.81% increase from 2021’s figure. The value of processed agricultural products exported to China was 1.431 billion USD – an expansion of 17.28% on-year. Key export items include wheat products, packaged food, canned and processed fruit, brown sugar, beverages, and pet food. (NNT)
