Thailand’s community products go international
The Government is giving a major boost to the development of community products, under the "One Tambon, One Product,” or "OTOP,” program to make them better known in the international market.
It believes that OTOP operators will have greater opportunities to expand their products into other ASEAN markets, as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has now come into existence.
Thailand launched the OTOP program in 2001 as a self-help mechanism for each and every community, with emphasis on rural areas, to draw upon local knowledge and ingenuity. The program aims to build up small enterprises in communities by encouraging the people to manufacture local products using their homegrown skills and expertise. It is a way of stimulating human creativity and innovation at the grassroots level, as well as generating more income for local people.
 |
The development of OTOP products will also help develop community economy and maximize the use of local resources for the maximum benefit. The OTOP products that have good potential will be developed further to enable them to go international.
The OTOP initiative has provided employment and generated income in respective localities, while helping communities reduce out-migration in search of jobs elsewhere. At the same time, it will ensure that wealth circulates within the communities, thereby increasing the purchasing power in rural areas.
The Government has urged relevant government agencies and private organizations to offer a helping hand by giving advice to OTOP operators. There are many OTOP products that need to be improved, in terms of design, so that they would become more attractive.
Since AEC will be a market of more than 600 million people, OTOP products are likely to have a greater market share in the ASEAN region.
