BANGKOK (NNT) – The Ministry of Industry, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, the Water and Environment Institute for Sustainability, and the Federation of Thai Industries have held the Eco Innovation Forum 2019, on the theme ’ The Economy: Way to a Smart and Sustainable Eco Industrial Town,’ raising awareness in the industrial sector of the circular economy concept in eco industrial town development to maximize efficiency in resource consumption.
Exhibitions on eco industrial town development were held in the forum by government agencies, entrepreneurs, and educational institutions. Some 200 Eco Factory awards were given to winning industrial estates and factories.
An Advisor to the Minister of Industry, Theerayut Wanitchang said the Ministry of Industry has clear goals to encourage OTOP entrepreneurs and SMEs to adopt the Bio Economy, Circular Economy, and Green Economy or BCG Model in their operations.
The Ministry of Industry and the Federation of Thai Industries have signed an agreement on the Factory 4.0 industry development model through the BLISS Project aimed at promoting the Circular Economy concept maximizing added value from limited resources, by designing products that encourage recycling, promote innovations and help efficiently reduce resource and energy consumption in an environmentally friendly manner.
The eco industrial city project was piloted in Ban Chang, Rayong, to support future industrial development in the Eastern Economic Corridor, and to promote proper electronic waste processing.
The Ministry of Industry is expected to turn all industrial estates in Thailand into eco industrial cities fully engaged in the Circular Economy by 2021.
NEW DELHI—Taiwan is pitching India as a potential business destination to its tech, auto, renewable energy and farm sector firms as the United States’ trade war with China has pushed its companies to look for newer markets, two officials said on Sept. 20. More than 10,000 Taiwanese companies, including Apple suppliers Foxconn and Wistron have […]
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BANGKOK, 21st September 2019 (NNT) – Friday, September 20 is the day when teenagers, young people and people of all ages who care about the environment in many countries skiped work and school to join the Global Climate Strike.
In Thailand, more than 200 students, youths and people interested in the climate crisis participated in the Climate Strike Thailand. The activity was inspired by Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist who is calling on all governments to stop subsidizing fossil fuel energy and to take action to prevent climate crises.
The purpose of this activity was to march to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to submit an open letter to call on the government to declare a climate emergency, vow to achieve the coal removal target and increase the proportion of renewable energy by 50 percent by 2025.
BANGKOK, 21 September 2019 (NNT) – The government recognizes the importance on all groups of farmers and all kinds of plants. Cassava farmers are currently seeing their crops suffer from the cassava mosaic disease (CMD) which can’t be cured. It is necessary therefore, to destroy the CMD-affected cassava plants and tobacco whiteflies to interrupt the outbreak cycle and prevent it from spreading to a new area, and causing more trouble for cassava growers.
Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, attended a meeting of the Tapioca Policy and Administration Committee (TPAC) to consider a project to prevent and eradicate the CMD with a budget of 286 million baht. There will be no age limit on the CMD-infected cassava plants. Farmers must report on the CMD from October 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020 and have registered as tapioca growers with the TPAC from April 1, 2019, to September 30, 2019. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has been assigned to consider using the Plant Quarantine Act to declare disease control areas. Officials can destroy cassava plants to prevent the disease from spreading. Farmers will receive a compensation payment of 3,000 baht per rai. The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry reports that 45,400 rai of tapioca farms in Thailand were affected by the CMD according to information issued on August 28, 2019. Initially, there are 4,540 farmers whose tapioca farms must be destroyed. However, the compensation payment plan must be presented to the Cabinet again.
As for the tapioca farmers’ income insurance project, Mr. Jurin said that it is currently under discussion among three parties, namely the government, the private sector and farmers. After the government has arranged palm and rice farmer income insurance projects, it will organize a rubber farmer income insurance project and then will be able to arrange a cassava farmer income insurance project.
Decades of astonishing economic growth have given China new tools for extending its influence abroad and achieving its political goals. Some of these tools are inducements, including Belt and Road Initiative projects and new development financial institutions.
But China has demonstrated that it will use its new economic leverage in pursuit of political goals unrelated to economic exchange, swiftly shifting inducements to punishments. One example lies in the field of tourism.
Two factors make regulating tourist flows tempting for Chinese policymakers: the size of its international tourism industry and the control China can still exercise over outward tourism. But whether tourism has been an effective political tool is debated.
The largest international tourist sender in the world
China has quickly become the largest international tourist sender country in the world. Over the last two decades, the number of Chinese overseas travellers rose by over 25 times from 5.3 million in 1997 to 130 million in 2017. In the latter year, Chinese tourists contributed an estimated US$250 billion to overseas economies, double the figure for US tourists and triple that of Germany.
Chinese tourists made up more than a quarter of the 38 million foreign visitors to Thailand last year
The Chinese government has a degree of leverage over its tourists that…
Bangkok, 20 September 2019 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Krabi Office is launching its ‘Krabi Premium’ marketing concept aimed at delivering ‘the best of the best’ of Krabi. It offers meaningful experiences to tourists to hopefully stimulate spending and generate additional revenue for local communities in the province.
Hin Ha Luk Island, or Ha Island or Tuk Narima Island, is the group of five islands in Mu Ko Lanta National Marine Park, Krabi
The initiative also aims to promote responsible tourism while encouraging the exchange of ideas between the locals, tourists and tourism operators on how to promote the concept both locally and to domestic and international tourists.
Mr. Apichai Aranyig, Director of the TAT Krabi Office, said the ‘Krabi Premium’ concept started off as a project to entice more domestic tourists, both Thai and expatriates living in Thailand, to Krabi through the launch of the ‘We are Krabi‘ and its bookcaze websites.
“The concept is now expanding to cover all potential markets. Through partnerships with tour operators and hotels, international tourists will know more of what can be experienced in Krabi while Thai tourists will know they are welcomed all-year round. This averts misconceptions that hotels and tourism operators in Krabi only want Thai tourists during the low season,” Mr. Apichai said.
“The concept is also meant to encourage hotels, tourism operators and Krabi locals to be good hosts and treat tourists like family members coming for a visit. By viewing tourists this way, they will want to make sure all visitors have memorable experiences.”
Apichai Aranyig, TAT Krabi Office Director
According to Mr. Apichai, the concept is not about selling high-end or expensive products, but is focusing on promoting experiences based on the treasures of ‘Krabi Premium: Emerald of the Andaman’ whereby emerald represents lush green forests, mountains and islands as well as the turquoise of the sea.
The line-up for Krabi Premium includes: Attractions: Krabi boasts 154 islands plus three national parks including Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park as well as five unique local communities; Accommodation: Krabi is home to multiple world-class hotels, and more importantly, many hotels in Krabi are known for their eco-friendly operations, and Thai food: this category lists authentic Krabi dishes and where to find them plus top restaurants and eateries.
Mr. Apichai said: “Krabi is a cultural melting pot where people of different ethnic origins and beliefs co-exist in harmony. Tourists – domestic and international – can learn more about Krabi’s history while experiencing the provincial way of life at the five local communities who are ready to welcome visitors with open arms.”
Sunset Cruise at Nam Mao Bay, Krabi
In addition, Krabi is known for its environment-friendly, sustainable tourism values and is seen as a model ecotourism destination. In 2018, Krabi received ‘Global Low-Carbon Ecological Scenic Spot’ honours at the 2018 Annual Session of Global Forum on Human Settlements and Sustainable Cities award ceremony, UNESCAP.
Krabi has also championed its campaign for ‘no single-use plastic, no foam containers’ for over a year. This was practiced at several events including at the recent Krabi Naga Fest where vendors opted against single-use plastics while using solar energy or biodiesel fuels for electrical generation.
JAKARTA, 20 September 2019 – The ASEAN Secretariat held the Workshop on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Data and Statistics: Strengthening the Evidence Base to Support SME Policymaking at their headquarter in Jakarta yesterday.
The workshop gathered 40 participants, comprising policy makers representing the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (ACCMSME), participants from national statistics organisations representing the ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS), experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and ARISE Plus.
The two-day workshop was held in response to the findings and recommendations of the ASEAN SME Policy Index 2018, a report produced by ACCMSME with support of Canada and OECD which assesses the strengths and weaknesses in SME policy design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation across ASEAN Member States (AMS).
Among others, the report found that data on MSMEs such as the contribution and nature of MSMEs are either missing or not collected systematically. It called for the strengthening of data collection and analysis to ensure development of evidence-based and targeted policies on MSMEs as well as facilitate monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community Aladdin D. Rillo underscored the need to improve the coordination of statistical activities at the national and regional level, among others through the harmonisation of business registration. He further encouraged governments to take advantage of digital technologies to widen its datasets.
On her part, Ambassador of Canada to ASEAN Diedrah Kelly acknowledged the different characteristics of MSMEs in each AMS and that policies made should not be one-dimensional. In addition, she commended the conduct of the workshop as being in line with Canada’s own practices for creating evidence-based policies.
Destry Anna Sari, Chair of ACCMSME, shared with the workshop the challenges faced by ACCMSME in collecting SME-related data through its past projects and report publications. Meanwhile, Hataichanok Puckcharern, Chair of ACSS Sub-Committee on Planning and Coordination underlined the need for good cooperation and coordination among the line agencies so that the statistics could be produced in high quality in terms of relevance, timeliness, and comparability.
Throughout the workshop, participants shared challenges faced in and best practices on data collection and statistical analysis methods at each AMS. They discussed the importance of understanding the MSME landscape both nationally and regionally and explored considerations for compiling region-wide database modelled after good practices from around the world, including the OECD’s data portal. The workshop concluded with participants exploring way forward towards strengthening regional collaboration between both sectoral bodies towards producing sustainable data on SMEs.
The workshop was organised with the support of Canada and OECD through the Canada-OECD Project for ASEAN SMEs.
BANGKOK, 20 September 2019 (NNT) – To support the transition of government services to the full digital era, the government is advocating the Digital Government Administration and Services Act B.E. 2562 or the Digital Government Act which has been in effect since May 23. This marks the opening of a new era of government services, offering more convenience and speeding up law enforcement. The Digital Government Development Agency (DGA) has mobilized government agencies to develop online services to make life easier for the people.
Mr Korpsak Phutrakul, Deputy Secretary-General to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs, opened a recent seminar to establish knowledge and understanding of digital government law. He confirmed that the said law will be an important mechanism in linking data sourced from government agencies. The public will be able to utilize the information and inspect and follow up on the government sector’s operations for transparency. The DGA has been assigned to assist citizens in accessing government information via a digital format and in providing more channels for electronic documents to reduce trouble in contacting the government agencies. This will allow people to contact the agencies via mobile phones in the same way as mobile banking, as people can view their personal information and request a license renewal without having to travel to a government agency.
Mrs Airada Luangwilai, DGA Acting Director, said development of the Biz Portal system will be able to increase the number of certificates issued to 70 for 25 businesses by October, from the current 40 licenses available for 10 different businesses
