H.E. Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce presided over the THAIFEX-ANUGA ASIA 2022 “The Hybrid Edition” opening ceremony together with Mr. Keerati Rushchano, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Mr.Phusit Ratanakul Sereroengrit, Director General of the Department of International Trade Promotion, Mr. Sanan Angubolkul, Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Mathias Cooper, Managing Director of Cologne Messe Company Limited, senior executives of the Ministry of Commerce, and representatives from government and private agencies at IMPACT Challenger Hall 2, Muang Thong Thani.
Mr. Jurin revealed that the food and beverage industry is an important asset for the Thai economy. Thailand is reportedly the 13th largest food exporter in the world, with the market share of more than 2.3%, and the 4th largest exporter in Asia. Although international trade is restricted due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the export of Thailand food products in the first quarter of 2022 could reach the amount of 286 billion baht, an increase of 28.8% compared to the first quarter of 2021.
To create safety standards and enable buyers to trace the origin of the products, Mr. Jurin initiated collaboration between 4 Ministries in issuing Covid-19 Prevention Best Practice certificates to 262 factories, aiming to raise confidence and encourage Thailand to become the hub of the world’s agricultural product and food producers. Another important policy is to make Thai food become the food of the world, to lead a greater demand for Thai products and services, as well as generating more exports from Thailand to the world.
THAIFEX – ANUGA ASIA 2022 - The Hybrid Edition
To achieve the goal “Thai Food” to “The World’s Food”, the Ministry of Commerce organised the event “THAIFEX – ANUGA ASIA 2022 - The Hybrid Edition” with the theme “Reimagine the Future of Food and Beverage Industry,” to meet the requirements of many buyers who wish to buy products from local sellers in Thailand.
“The onsite trade show will be held from May 24 – 28, 2022. Meanwhile, the buyers who are unable to travel to Thailand can visit “THAIFEX Virtual Trade Show” via the online platform at www.thaifex-vts.com. The event will be held online in parallel with the onsite event. Exclusively, buyers can use this channel to find and talk to sellers for another year for more trade opportunities. This hybrid trade show will be able to generate a trade value of more than 10,000 million baht for the Thai economy,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce said.
The data from the Department of International Trade Promotion indicates that the THAIFEX – ANUGA ASIA 2022 “The Hybrid Edition” was a combination between the event in the exhibition centre (offline) and the virtual food exhibition (online). In this year, there were a total of 1,603 offline participants, comprising 722 Thai entrepreneurs and 881 foreign entrepreneurs from 36 countries, such as East Asia, ASEAN, Europe, the United States, Australia, Latin America, the Middle East, and others. It expected to create a total value of 10,000 million baht, consisting of 9,550 million baht from the offline event and 450 million baht from the online event. More than 75,000 participants were expected to visit the event during May 24-28, 2022.
The products exhibited in the event were divided into 11 zones, comprising all types of food products, seafood, frozen food, rice, vegetables and fruits, snacks, beverages, tea and coffee, tools/appliances/equipment, as well as various services related to the food and beverage industry.
International participation
There was strong participation from overseas exhibitors. An example was the Italian Pavilion organised by the Italian Thai Agency with the support of the Embassy of Italy. The Food School Bangkok, member of Thai-Italian Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with ALMA School offered live food demonstrations.
Brazil with a 90sqm pavilion, born out of a partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The 12 exhibitors covered products such as beef, coffee, honey, cheese, acai and amazon products, bean and pulses. All of them showcased some of Brazilian flavours that may still not be fully known by the Thai public, but aimed to cater to their tastes. Selected Thai importers and distributors also had the opportunity to meet with Brazilian exhibitors in a networking session at the official Residence of Ambassador Jose Borges dos Santos Jr. during the opening day of the fair.
Ranked as the 2nd Asia’s largest food exporter after China, the Indonesia Pavilion in partnership with Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Bangkok has 17 booths that showcased many interesting halal products like fine food, sweet and confectionary including coffee and tea that is well known for its signature. Visit arrangement was organised by Visit Tourism Indonesia Officer (VITO) Thailand.
Many countries had big pavilions like Japan, Korea, and Vietnam but there were many interesting ones to visit like Malaysia, and Turkey. Some countries like Poland promote strongly on “healthy Polish apples.”
Apart from the masks wearing, the crowded scenes on the exhibition floors offered a sense of normalcy that rivals the busy time before the pandemic. This event certainly built confidence for the return of the promising era of the exhibition industry. Many individual local Thai and international exhibitions were clinging with this sense of hope when they proudly display their products and services throughout the four day period.
