Prime Minister urges exporters to go digital

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha urged Thailand’s exporters to adopt more digital technologies, focus on innovation and invest more in research and development to gain an edge over competitors and help accelerate the economic recovery from the pandemic.

Prime Minister Prayut issued his call during the annual Prime Minister’s Export Awards ceremony held last week at the Government House in Bangkok. Many in Thailand’s private sector have already taken the message to heart.

A recent report from U.S.-based global consulting firm Deloitte said that the COVID-19 pandemic has been spurring Thai companies to adopt or speed up digitalization. Deloitte said a majority of the companies it surveyed “has now entered a digital adopter stage after COVID-19 occurred compared to digital evaluator stage before COVID-19.“

While the survey was not limited to exporters, the Prime Minister stressed that digital adoption by firms focusing on selling overseas would help them compete and also boost national competitiveness.

Digital industries are one of a dozen sectors to which the government is offering strong support as a means of advancing the Kingdom’s economy to the next level of development.

Thailand’s economy is driven by exports, and every year a panel of experts selects products and services it deems to be of the best quality or highly innovative and bestows upon them the Prime Minister’s Export Awards.

This year, 42 awards were presented to 34 companies from 15 provinces.
The winning 34 companies generated a combined $606 million in export revenues in 2020.

Award are given in seven categories: best exporters, best innovation, best Thai brand, best design, best service enterprises, best One Tambon, One Product (OTOP) item, and best halal.

Photo courtesy of www.facebook.com/pmexportaward2021/