Thailand promotes one village-one product programme

A mask from traditional Thai dance drama being sold at an OTOP fair (Source: Bangkokpost)

Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce has announced a plan to support 450 enterprises under the programme “One Tambon (trade village), one product” (OTOP) in an attempt to introducing Thai products to international markets.

Accordingly, the Government will coordinate with such big enterprises as PTT and AOT to bring home-made goods and folk handicrafts of each trade village to petrol stations and duty-free shops.

The Ministry of Commerce said there are 2,661 OTOP products and 148 petrol stations of PTT nationwide are selling these products.

The initiative was first introduced in Japan 25 years ago and has attracted interests of many countries, including Thailand. The Southeast Asian country launched the campaign in 2001 and has then gained significant success.

Under the initiative, local traders have been supported by the Government in promotion, marketing, training, and technology transfer.

The OTOP programme has proved as an effective social stabilisation policy since it has improved welfare and generated higher incomes for Thai villagers through the effective production and marketing of unique traditional products with high added value.

The success of the campaign in Thailand has also inspired other ASEAN member states such as Brunei and Malaysia with “ Satu Kampung Satu Produk”, Indonesia with “ Balik Desa” and “ One Tombon One Product” in Cambodia.-VNA