The Commerce Ministry vows to continue promoting the digital content business as a key industry to drive economic growth and upgrade it as a hub for the sector.
According to Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, the ministry is focusing on promotion of digital content exports in addition to key mainstays such as rice, palm oil, rubber, food and industrial products.
The ministry's promotion plans are in line with the government's soft power development attempts which aim to highlight Thai culture, sports, food and education on the international stage.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has stressed the promotion of soft power by capitalising on the country's architectural design, performing arts, films, sports and music.
Such soft power initiatives should express Thainess, making them competitive while generating revenue, according to the premier.
A successful example is the Tourism and Sports Ministry's patent of the world-class jet ski tournament, the WPG#1 World Series, which has been organised in Europe and North America.
Through the tournaments, the country's highlights were publicised while the events drew more than 3,000 participants and fans from 54 countries. The tournaments have raked in more than 700 million baht per year in revenue.
According to the Commerce Ministry in 2020 Thailand's digital content industry was worth about 250 billion baht, half of which was in the television and movie industries.
According to Mr Jurin, given the growth prospects of digital content industries, he assigned the International Trade Promotion Department to speed up designing promotional activities throughout the year.
As part of the efforts, the department organised content pitching events on Jan 27 in which 15 Thai content producers were allowed to negotiate deals with major streaming platforms such as Netflix, WeTV, iQIYI and Viu.
Ekachat Seetavorarat, deputy director-general of the department, said the first-ever content pitching event helped generate more than 815 million baht worth of deals between Thai producers and foreign streaming platforms.
According to Mr Ekachat, the content that draws the most interest from foreign platforms are TV series, movies and animation series, reflecting Thailand's digital content industry still boasts potential growth.
He attributed the growth prospects to Thai producers' capability and their world-acclaimed productions as well as the growing popularity of online platforms among global audiences.
According to Mr Ekachat, on top of content pitching events, the department is also committed to promoting Thailand's digital content in other formats such as exhibitions, online channels, networking activities and seminars.
