The Industry Ministry will ensure that farmers benefit from the government's flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) project, minister, Uttama Savanayana says.
It is part of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's strategy to take care of the agriculture sector, particularly farmers in areas near the EEC, he said.
The strategy will be similar to the Thailand 4.0 concept, which aims at developing national sustainable growth that does not leave anyone behind, Mr Uttama said, without giving further details.
"The EEC project should help raise value on agricultural products and increase livelihoods for farmers, particularly those in the vicinity of the EEC," said Mr Uttama.
The new rail projects, intended to link the EEC to other parts of the country as well as overseas markets via the deep-sea ports and the U-tapao airport, should at least help cut production and logistics costs to allow people in the farming sector make a greater profit, he said.
The EEC project, spanning more than 30,000 rai in the three eastern provinces of Rayong, Chon Buri and Chachoengsao, is expected to help generate new investment of up to 1.5 trillion baht within five years from both the public and private sectors.
It is meant to serve as Thailand's new growth engine through 10 targeted industries: next-generation cars; smart electronics; affluent, medical and wellness tourism; agriculture and biotechnology; food; robotics for industry; logistics and aviation; biofuels and biochemicals; digital; and medical services.
Mr Uttama said the master plan to modernise industry under Thailand 4.0, particularly the plan to promote biochemical and biobased industries, should help spur innovation that will add higher value to local farm products.
Infrastructure should help create valuable supply chains involving farm-related and food processing industries that will help increase demand for farm products, he added.
Speaking at the 2017 Office of Industrial Economics (OIE) forum entitled "Transforming toward Thailand 4.0", Mr Uttama said the government would also continue supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in both the agricultural and industrial sectors.
The EEC is also expected to play a major role in supporting Thai SMES, he added.
He said the Industry Ministry in cooperation with other related government agencies will figure out new measures to support the agriculture sector so that it grows in tandem with Thai industry.
A a result, Mr Uttama said the Office of City Planning would work on designing new cities that are due to be developed in the EEC provinces to balance out residential, industrial and agricultural areas.
The government has also launched several initiatives to encourage innovation to improve common grade agricultural products instead of selling or exporting them at commodity level.
"That's why we are trying to push forward the project to process farm products into new S-Curve projects to help increase their value," he said.
Mr Uttama told the forum that Industry Ministry also planned to present new ideas to support SMEs in general for cabinet approval soon.
He said they focus on helping SMEs access government financial aid more easily to allow them to have better liquidity to compete in the market.
Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak asked the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation to speed up providing loan guarantees for SMEs to allow them access to financial services from banks after finding that only 17% of 100 billion baht in credit guarantees had been granted.