Thailand to fight foreign retailers

Thailand to fight foreign retailers

Bangkok said Wednesday it would set up an advocacy body to help Thai retailers resist fierce competition from foreign superstores that now control 40 percent of the local market.

"The cabinet approved 395 million baht (US$9.2 million) over three years to set up a public enterprise to help Thai retail traders," it said in a statement, adding the body could be privatized within five years.

The commerce ministry proposes setting up branches of the organization in each of Thailand's 76 provinces, to oversee goods storage, purchasing, bargaining, financing, and the development of locally made products.

The products would include those promoted under the government's "one village, one product" initiative, which encourages each Thai village to specialize in the production of a particular item.

The ministry expects around 100,000 retail traders to join the project, in order to boost their ability to compete with the giant foreign retail stores that have proliferated in Thailand in recent years.

"Some 90 percent of Thai retail traders still run as family- style operations, but they are now seriously suffering from price competition from big retailers, who control 40 percent of the retail market," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Nation newspaper reported research by the Thailand Research Fund found 50,000 traditional retail stores could be forced to close if they fail to adjust to compete against the foreign giants. -- AFP