As the country battles the pandemic, digital content and big data business in Thailand are still expected to thrive this year with 15% revenue growth to 39 billion baht, says Surapong Lertsithichai, chairman of the Bangkok International Digital Content Festival 2021 (BIDC 2021).
BIDC 2021, which launched yesterday, provides digital business matching from today until Friday. Digital content webinars for the event started on July 1 and are scheduled to end on Friday.
The event is being held online this year due to the pandemic.
Speaking during the launch of the event, Mr Surapong, who is also president of the Bangkok ACM SIGGRAPH Association (BASA), said a similar growth rate is also expected next year with revenue expected to reach 45 billion baht.
In 2020, the country's digital content industry saw 10.1% growth in value to 34.2 billion baht, compared with 31.1 billion in 2019.
Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, the digital economy and society minister, said the ministry is working with various partners to support the country's digital economy in a sustainable way, making sure it develops in line with the new normal once the pandemic is over.
"Technology has played a key role in people's daily life, especially entertainment content consumption through Netflix or YouTube, which have become popular streaming platforms," he said.
The pandemic is also driving e-learning and live streaming, which could be a great opportunity to further develop digital content, said Mr Chaiwut.
Mr Surapong said interest in e-learning is now accelerating the development of e-learning platforms while many universities have already embarked on online courses.
Referring to BIDC 2021, Mr Surapong said all the activities from the event are expected to generate 1.5 billion baht towards the country's GDP and 10,700 jobs.
The event's highlight takes the form of a match-making opportunity with 93 Thai and foreign companies involved. BIDC awards will also be presented to those excelling in the digital content industry.
Sansern Samalapa, vice-minister for commerce, said the ministry regards the digital content business as a key industry to drive the country's growth under a creative economy concept. Thailand can be promoted to become a digital content hub, he said.
Over the past two years, the ministry has ramped up efforts to expand market channels for Thai digital content providers with value from animation, characters and games in Thailand reaching 2.7 billion baht in total.
At BIDC 2021, business matching could see over 200 pairs of businesses secure deals, generating 490 million baht for the economy, Mr Sansern said.
The event was co-organised by the Creative Economy Agency, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency, the Department of International Trade Promotion and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau.
Five private digital content associations have also been participating, namely BASA, the E-Learning Association of Thailand, the Digital Content Association of Thailand, the Thai Animation and Computer Graphic Association of Thailand and the Thai Game Software Industry Association.