Government to boost trade through "Thaitrade.com"

BANGKOK, June 7 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Commerce, is promoting the National E-Marketplace, Thaitrade.com, globally to be a new platform for selling more Thai products to the world market through the online system. Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak introduced the official "Thaitrade.com" website while delivering a speech at the "E-Commerce Big Bang" event, organized by the Ministry of Commerce in Bangkok on Thursday. Somkid said he has assigned the Thai Ministry of Commerce to invite public and private agencies to work together on more widely promoting the "Thaitrade.com" website internationally and to screen producers of potential Thai products of all categories to become members of the National E-Marketplace. Besides, the Ministry of Commerce has been assigned to publicize the "Thaitrade.com" brand globally by linking the official website with other wellknown or established websites. The deputy premier assessed that world trade should increasingly rely on the e-commerce system in the coming years, suggesting that all Thai sectors adjust themselves to the worldwide borderless online trade. The deputy prime minister also introduced another new business service, Thaitrade Shop, as an official comprehensive online sale promotion platform in the form of "B2C", through which domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) selling varieties of products can directly connect with consumers and logistics firms. Meanwhile, Thai Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong announced that his ministry will organize roadshows domestically and internationally to publicize the "Thaitrade.com" website and has set a target to increase its members to 100,000 over the next three years and the online sale value on the National E-Marketplace to 10 billion baht by 2019, from nearly 25,000 members now, with their over 250,000 items of registered products, and annual sale value of about 5 billion baht over the past six years, the primary stage of the national e-commerce platform. (TNA)