Eastern Fruit Corridor to be developed in Thailand

BANGKOK, February 7 (TNA) - The government plans to develop the Eastern Fruit Corridor (EFC) as a world-class standardized central market where quality Thai fruits will be sold through a systematic bidding process. Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana told journalists that the Thai Cabinet approved the plan at its mobile meeting in Chantaburi Province in the Thai East on February 6. Uttama explained that under the EFC initiative, a massive cold storage will be built over the next few years as part of the Thai government-supported Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Project with the cooperation from business firms, including PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) and SCG Public Company Limited (SCG). "The massive cold storage, once fully launched, will become the planned central market where quality Thai fruits will be sold through the systematic budding process, similar to the bidding process of flowers in the Netherlands, to be more beneficial to fruit growers", the minister said. Besides, the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology will support the EFC by using the safe radicidation technology to solve the problem of chemical residues in fruits, while Burapha University will set up a center for quality control and certification processes of Thai fruits to be sold at EFC. The industry minister projected that the value of trade and investment at the EFC should exceed 50 billion baht, thanks to the integrated work of the cooperative parties. Meanwhile, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak told reporters that cooperation from PTT and SCG in the development of EFC will result in more efficient utilization of imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the massive cold storage of Thai fruits that can be fresh for sale throughout the year. (TNA)