Thai FDA joins forces with upstream and downstream partners for knowledge sharing regarding development guidelines of community health products to strengthen entrepreneurs enabling them to compete internationally.

           On February 28, 2024, the Thai FDA organized the Knowledge-Sharing Seminar for the Development of Community Health Products (2024) among the partner network at TK Palace Hotel & Convention, Bangkok. The seminar was attended by 170 participants, comprising provincial public health officers, representatives from the partner network whose roles were to support community product manufacturers, and FDA officers, with the aim to support and promote community health product manufacturers internationally. Dr. Narong Aphikulvanich, Secretary-General of the Food and Drug Administration, revealed that at present Thailand is focusing on economic development by strengthening grassroot entrepreneurs, and adding value to community products by creating identity and creativity to open up the competitive opportunities for product sales in both national and international markets.  In order to strengthen grassroot entrepreneurs, the collaboration from the partner network was imperative; thus the knowledge-sharing seminar among the partner network was organized to jointly learn the comprehensive upstream-to-downstream operation under the supervision of various parties, including Department of Agricultural Extension, Department of Community Development, Ministry of Interior, the Office of SMEs Promotion (OSMEP), Department of Industrial Promotion, the Office of the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Industry, the Office of the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Commerce, the Federation of Thai SME, Government Savings Bank, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand, Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG), provincial public health offices, as well as regional universities and University Business Incubators (UBIs). Moreover, fieldwork for activities to promote the community health product entrepreneurs has been planned for concrete achievement.

              The collaboration among the partner network will help reduce the obstacles in the development of grassroot entrepreneurs, e.g. lack of understanding of government regulations, lack of product development knowledge, lack of research on product safety or product life extension, raw material management, or lack of business planning skills. Consequently, through the integrated collaboration, the competence of the community health product entrepreneurs can be enhanced for efficiency, opportunities, income, and stronger economy of Thailand.

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News Publication Date: 28 February 2024