Thailand to learn on SKorea's creative economy

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA, March 22 (TNA) - Thailand learns on and will apply South Korea's development of creative economy to the Thai economy. Accompanied by a Thai business delegation, visiting Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak met several South Korean senior officials in Busan on Tuesday to discuss cooperation on the issue. Constructive ideas will be implemented in Thailand after it is learned that major South Korean firms, namely Lotte and Samsung, have joined forces with their government and rural administrative organisations in co-investment in creating 18 creative economy centres across South Korea. The Seoul government has set aside some 300 million US dollars for creative economy purposes, aimed to further boost national competitiveness on the world market. According to the Thai deputy premier, he also invited South Korean government agencies to join the "Thailand Start Up" programme, set to be held in the Thai Kingdom on April 28. The deputy premier said he has assigned the Thai Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Community Development to cooperate with South Korean agencies to further develop Thailand's community-based products under the government-backed "One Tambon One Product" (OTOP) Programme. Meanwhile, Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee noted that global creative economic products are now worth as much as 80 trillion baht, but Thailand captures only 10 trillion baht, equivalent to 14 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Suvit expressed his hope that the amount would rise to about 20 per cent of Thailand's GDP within the next 3-5 years, as major corporates in the Thai economy are planning to jointly set up a centre to promote creative products produced by local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). (TNA)