Thailand's Islamic fashions to be promoted on world stage

BANGKOK, June 19 (TNA) - Efforts have been intensified to promote Thailand's Islamic fashions on the world stage, paving the way for the Kingdom to become a global export base of Islamic apparels in the future, especially to the oil-rich Muslim-dominant Middle East, where people have high purchasing power. As part of the efforts, the Department of Industrial Promotion, under the Thai Ministry of Industry, and Srinakharinwirot University on Wednesday jointly organized a contest of Islamic clothes to support Thailand's goal on reaching worldwide Islamic garment demand, totally worth 2.88 trillion baht, annually. At the contest, held at the CentralWorld shopping center in Bangkok, there were more than 52 entries of Islamic fashions shown by well-known actors and actresses. Department of Industrial Promotion Director-General Sophon Pholprasit told journalists that Wednesday's contest was organized for the second year with more participating business operators. Sophon acknowledged that his department has helped the business operators develop designs, marketing and production of their Islamic clothes so that they can become leaders in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and can be competitive on the world market, and that his department is also conducting marketing campaigns simultaneously, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the business. According to the senior official, Indonesia is now a largest exporter of Islamic clothes in ASEAN, followed by Malaysia. Demand for Islamic clothes in ASEAN has, meanwhile, risen by 20 per cent yearly, while annual demand on the world market for Islamic clothes is estimated at 2.88 trillion baht totally, 1.44 trillion baht of which is in Asia, 7.2 billion baht is in Thailand alone. (TNA)