The food and beverage trade event Thaifex-Anuga Asia 2023 ended on Saturday and generated up to 120 billion baht in transactions, outstripping the original target of 70 billion baht.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said the event was tremendously successful based on strong collaboration among three parties: the Commerce Ministry's International Trade Promotion Department, the Thai Chamber of Commerce, and Koelnmesse, one of the world's largest trade fair companies.
The exhibition tallied 3,034 participants, including 1,109 Thai firms and 1,925 international companies. The total value of purchases made during the event reached 120 billion baht, marking an 81.4% increase from the previous similar event, with immediate transactions worth 1.1 billion baht and a total of 119 billion baht in one year.
Participating companies consisted of 620 from China, 212 from South Korea, 158 from Vietnam, 109 from Malaysia, and 57 from Japan. There were a total of 5,859 exhibitors from 45 countries, representing various regions such as East Asia, Asean, the EU, the US, Australia, and the Middle East.
Over the course of five days at the event, the total number of attendees reached 131,039, increasing by 58% from the previous event, including 78,764 trade visitors (a 53% increase) and 16,429 foreign visitors (up by 150%).
Among the foreign visitors, there was a significant increase from China (2,022%), Malaysia (127%), Vietnam (79%), South Korea (109%), and Singapore (58%). Thai business people accounted for 62,335 attendees, representing a 39% increase. The general public who visited the exhibition on the last day (May 27) reached 52,275 individuals, marking a 66% increase.
The top five product categories with the highest trading volumes were: food; fruit; food technology, such as food machinery and equipment; coffee and tea; and food-related services. China, Thailand, the US, Malaysia and Japan were the top five countries with the highest purchase orders.
Mr Jurin said this year's event is expected to play a significant role in boosting Thai food exports in 2023. The Commerce Ministry aims to grow food exports by 10% to 1.55 trillion baht this year, up from 1.36 trillion baht in 2022, driven by rising demand and higher Thai standards for quality, safety, and sustainable production processes.
"The ministry is committed to promoting Thai food as a global cuisine by making Thailand a globally stable food source through food production and export support, promoting the expansion of Thai restaurants in various countries with certifications such as the Thai Select logo, and promoting Thai cuisine as a soft power," said Mr Jurin.
