Government promotes Thai GI farm products

BANGKOK, July 22 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Commerce and the National Farmers Council (NFC), will continue to promote local geographical indication (GI) fresh and processed farm products to boost Thai exports and income of local communities in all Thai regions. Auramon Supthaweethum, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Trade Negotiations, told journalists of the policy on July 21, acknowledging that her department and NFC have, thus, worked together under a project on enhancing Thai farmers' potential in the present free trade era, in which local healthy and safe GI farm products are mainly targeted to be promoted domestically and globally, particularly through free trade agreements (FTAs) Thailand has concluded with trading partners. Auramon stated that to drive forward the move, representatives of her department and NFC have jointly pursued five field trips to targeted Thai areas in different regions, including Udon Thani and Si Sa Ket Provinces in the Thai Northeast, Mae Hong Song and Sukhothai Provinces in the Thai North and Prachinburi Province in the Thai East so far this year. The senior official said that a co-team of her department and NFC is visiting Songkhla Province in the Thai Far South during July 22-24 for the same purpose, emphasizing on local GI orange, mango and sugar palm varieties. Besides, a seminar will be held on July 24, in which local farmers in many southern Thai provinces, including Songkhla, Phattalung, Chumphon, Surat Thani and Satun, are welcome to participate to learn on potential approaches to add values to their products in order to boost domestic sale and exports of their products through Thailand's FTAs with trading partners, namely other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China and India. (TNA)