Commerce Ministry set to hold THAIFEX 2017

BANGKOK, March 21 (TNA) -- The Commerce Ministry joined hands with the private sector to organise THAIFEX-World of Food Asia 2017, where various SMEs would participate to learn about new innovations and the world food trend. Director-General of the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) Ms Malee Choklumlerd said that the THAIFEX-World of Food Asia expo is one of the most important events aimed to develop the food industry, the main industry which drives the country's economy. She said in 2016, Thailand ranked in the 12th place for exporting food to the world and stood in the first place for food exports within the ASEAN region. Income generated from food exports stood at 24 billion US dollars, where the industry is expected to expand by 8 per cent this year, reeling in around 26 billion US dollars for Thailand. For this year, the commerce ministry has joined hands with the Thai Chamber of commerce and Koelnmesse GmbH (Cologne Trade Fair), one of the biggest exhibitors in the European Union (EU) to hold the expo which is the 26th of its kind and is one of Asia's largest and complete food expo. The world class event has attracted 2,000 world food entrepreneurs from over 40 countries,and 700 Thai participants, making up of more than 500 SMEs this year, focusing on encouraging SMEs to learn more about the business formation, new technology and innovations, as well as the world food trend. The expo would also provide a stage for business partnering to create marketing channels both in the country and abroad, while targeting to attract international producers and researchers to invest more in the Thailand on food innovation in accordance to the government's super cluster policy which is aimed to push Thailand into a hub for food research and innovations. THAIFEX 2017 is scheduled to be held between May 31-June 4 at IMPACT Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi, where over 150,000 visitors are expected to attend the expo, generating over 10 billion baht worth of income. (TNA)