Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group agreed during CEO Jack Ma's brief trip to Bangkok Thursday to help small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), startups and farmers in Thailand by getting them more digitally connected through its platforms.
It also discussed plans for a smart digital hub that will be developed in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) based on the company's recent investment there.
Alibaba co-founder and executive chairman Mr Ma met Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak and the rest of the government's economic team to discuss their future cooperation and the group's investments in the country.
Four memoranda of understanding were signed covering cooperation in four areas: Using e-commerce to boost local farm product exports to China; developing human resources for Thai e-commerce operations and startups; running a digital tourism platform in Thailand; and Alibaba's 11 billion baht (US$352.4 million) investment in a smart digital hub in the EEC.
"China is on its way to becoming the world's largest consumer, driven by rising income and a growing middle class of 300 million. There is no better time than now for trade-oriented countries to seize this opportunity to export to China as the country continues to open its doors wider for global trade," Mr Ma said after the meeting.
He also praised Thai agriculture products and its digital prospects.
"Quality Thai agricultural products such as fragrant rice, durian and other tropical fruits in particular are sought after by the Chinese consumer," he said.
"Given Thailand's unique strengths in people and culture, we are confident of its future and growth potential under the government's Thailand 4.0 policy.
"We are committed to being a long-term partner of Thailand to help enable its digital transformation," the Alibaba co-founder added.
Gen Prayut said cooperation with the Alibaba Group will enhance the country's e-commerce development and would be good for growth.
"The group believes Thailand has the potential to become an e-commerce centre in the region, which conforms to government policy. This also helps to develop the economies of neighbouring countries," he said.
"This cooperation will assist local community businesses and help farmers increase their income as logistics will be much improved and farm products can will able to be shipped within 24 hours," Gen Prayut noted.
The prime minister said Thailand and China can also generate income through a digital platform for tourism that Alibaba and the Thai government have agreed to develop.
Mr Somkid said Alibaba's investment in the smart digital hub will be an important platform to link Thai SMEs, Otop (One Tambon, One Product) items and farm products to China and the global market.
The EEC Office signed two of the four MoUs Thursday, according to Kanit Sangsubhan, its secretary-general. TMall is Alibaba's business-to-consumer marketplace.
The first covers cooperation with Alibaba's e-commerce subsidiary in Singapore to drive exports of Thai farm products and other goods to the global market, starting with rice and durian.
To mark the deal, the Thai Rice Flagship Store was launched on Tmall.com to promote Thai rice to Chinese customers. Tmall.com, formerly known as Taobao Mall, is Alibaba's business-to-consumer marketplace.
The Commerce Ministry expects up to 45,000 tonnes of high-quality rice will be exported via e-commerce channels this year, rising to 120,000 tonnes in 2019.
The second MoU was signed with Alibaba Group's Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Hong Kong Ltd and focuses on the smart digital hub in the EEC.
This will utilise Alibaba and Cainiao's world-class data and logistics technologies to boost cross-border trade not only between Thailand and China, but also other markets, the group said.
"The cooperation will open a great opportunity for Thailand and enhance trading in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia," Mr Kanit said.
Alibaba Group inked the other two MoUs with three Thai agencies.
The first concerns an agreement between the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Zhejiang Fliggy Network Technology Co.
They will create a Thailand Tourism Platform to facilitate travel bookings and room reservations in the country to give hotels, shops and restaurants a wider audience of Chinese travellers.
The final MoU was between Alibaba Business School and two Thai authorities -- the Industrial Promotion Department and the International Trade Promotion Department -- to help develop more suitable human resources for SMEs including "smart" farmers.
It aims to train 30,000 entrepreneurs a year.
- See also: Ma hints at $3bn investment
- Earlier report: Jack Ma to invest 11 billion baht