Thai Northeast eyed to become regional, global hub of handwoven cloth

UDON THANI, THAILAND, December 12 (TNA) - The Ministry of Commerce plans to develop a potential handwoven cloth area in the Thai Northeast to become a smart market and a regional and global handwoven cloth hub in the future. Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong told journalists of the plan on Wednesday while visiting the Nakha locality in Muang District of Udon Thani Province in the Thai Northeast, stressing that his ministry is developing the Nakha homespun cloth market to be a smart market, paving the way for it to become a handwoven cloth hub in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and in the world mainly through the modern e-commerce system. Sontirat noted that to meet the target, he has assigned Permanent Secretary for Commerce Boonyarit Kalayanamit to negotiate with executives of Alibaba Group Holding Limited, a China-based conglomerate specializing in the e-commerce, Internet, artificial intelligence (AI) and technology, who is scheduled to visit Thailand in mid-January 2019 to seek their cooperation in promoting the Thai Nakha handwoven cloth on their company's online trade platform. "I've assigned the permanent secretary for commerce to hold talks with the Alibaba executives on linking the Nakha cloth market in Udon Thani with their company's online trade platform specially developed to promote goods produced from people in an impoverished village in China", said the minister. According to the minister, his ministerial plan also covers a move to promote and support the Nakha handwoven cloth market to be a central market of handloomed cloth produced from all other Thai areas, which will then be sold through either the e-commerce system, or the border trade system with neighboring GMS countries. Besides, the Nakha cloth market will be linked with the provincial tourism sector in order to expand the sale of the Nakha handwoven cloth more widely in major tourist sites in Udon Thani. (TNA)