Thailand to create a "one village, one product" upgrade

Recently, in combination with the economic stimulus plan, the Thai government has made great efforts to create an "upgraded version" of the "one village, one product" project, guiding relevant enterprises and cooperatives to improve product quality and service level, and helping products to enter the international market. In addition to the government's establishment, Thai non-governmental organizations have also actively participated in the transformation and upgrading of the "One Village, One Product" project. Recently, the Thai Chamber of Commerce has also launched a project called "One Business (Association) One (Cooperative) Society", hoping to use the channel advantages of the Chamber of Commerce to help expand the sales scope of rural products and actively explore overseas markets. According to the plan, next year, the Thai Chamber of Commerce will help about 100 agricultural cooperatives complete their transformation and upgrading and create about 3000 cooperative demonstration projects, which are expected to help relevant farmers and cooperatives increase their income by about 30%.

The northern region of Thailand is one of the regions with relatively developed rural handicrafts. As the center of northern Thailand, the "One Village, One Product" project of Chiang Mai Prefecture has achieved great development, and its industrial level is in the forefront of Thailand. As the "first brand" of Chiang Mai tourism products, handmade umbrellas in Baoshan Village have become one of the preferred souvenirs for tourists in the local area. At the Handmade Umbrella Production Center in Baoshan Village, the person in charge, Canica, introduced the history and craftsmanship of traditional handmade umbrellas to reporters. According to reports, the village's handmade umbrella skills have been handed down for more than 200 years, but in the past it was only well-known in the surrounding areas. With the promotion of the "One Village, One Product" project, their handmade umbrella production has become a characteristic industry of the village and has developed rapidly, and its popularity has spread overseas. At present, the center directly drives more than 2000 farmers in the village and surrounding areas to participate in production, with an annual output of 300000 handmade umbrellas, 60% of which are sold to overseas markets through trade fairs and international trade, and about 3000 handmade umbrellas are exported to the Chinese market every year. She said that with the popularity of e-commerce and the continuous expansion of the market in China and other places, they plan to continuously improve the quality of products and expand the scale of exports to meet market demand.

The "One Village, One Product" project not only provides a way for farmers to increase their income, but also opens up a new way to protect the traditional rural culture. Canica said that through the development of handmade umbrella processing, the income of participating farmers has been significantly increased, and young people in the village have gradually realized the value of traditional crafts. Now they are working with local schools to organize training courses for students during the holidays, gradually cultivating the younger generation's interest in learning traditional crafts, and cultivating successors for this ancient craft to continue to pass on. In addition, industries such as longan planting and processing and organic rice planting in Chiang Mai have also become representatives of the development of "one village, one product. In the process of developing characteristic industries, local farmers have introduced cooperative mechanisms and used low-interest agricultural loans provided by the government to improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, and expand the sales market, and achieved good development.

At present, the Thai government is also stepping up the formulation of a new "one village, one product" plan, improving the project website, expanding product distribution channels, and planning to expand the "one village, one product" champion program to build it into a tourism project. Thailand's "One Village, One Product" project was launched in 2001 to help Thailand's rural areas resume production and improve farmers' living standards after the Southeast Asian financial crisis. This project encourages farmers to develop traditional or new industries, set up relevant trading companies or cooperatives, and develop rural industries with their own characteristics under the big brand of "one village, one product" under the unified management of the government. At present, Thailand's "one village, one product" project has 40000 varieties, including rice, fruits and vegetables from traditional agriculture, flowers and coffee imported from overseas, and handicrafts such as silk and handmade umbrellas handed down from generation to generation. It is expected that this year's "one village, one product" project will create a benefit of 100 billion baht (1 yuan is about 5.6 baht). According to Suyi, Deputy Minister of Commerce of Thailand, there are 5000 products with high export potential. The export market is expected to reach 20 billion baht this year, and it is expected to grow by 20% next year.

November 10, 2015 07:57 Source: People's Daily Author: Zhang Zhiwen