TCDC and Department of Industrial Promotion signs MOU in “Product Design and Development for Creative Industry SMEs”

TCDC and Department of Industrial Promotion signs MOU in “Product Design and Development for Creative Industry SMEs” project to give Thai SMEs competitive edge in international market


Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) has joined forces with the Department of Industrial Promotion, Ministry of Industry, in a bid to broaden business opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the nation by signing an MOU for collaboration in ‘Product Design and Development for Creative Industry SMEs’ project. The major project takes the Creative Thailand scheme off to a flying start in the Year of the Golden Tiger with an aim to raise business operation standard and capability of creative industry entrepreneurs in Thailand for greater competitiveness in the global market.

Mr. Apisit Laistrooglai, Managing Director of Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC), provided background about the partnership: “As a specialized institute of The Office of Knowledge Management and Development (OKMD) under supervision of The Office of the Prime Minister, TCDC undertakes a mission as the center of knowledge resources in design and creativity with a role to create public awareness of the economic value of design under “Creative Economy” concept. TCDC has therefore implemented a proactive action plan with special emphasis on strengthening business capability of the entrepreneurs through a year-round series of activities.”

“TCDC has previously provided opportunities for entrepreneurs from all industries to take part in Ploy Saeng Festival,” he continued. “At the festival, entrepreneurs and owners of products with high business potential were also recruited into a special workshop under a ‘Handmade Profit” Project’, which is a pilot project to support new entrepreneurs and increase visibility of Thai products and services in the international market. However, TCDC wishes to keep expanding these services by increasing accessibility of SMEs nationwide to the knowledge resources and introduce them to the community of creative industries. We have therefore partnered with various local and international organizations in a continued effort to boost the potential of Thai designers and entrepreneurs by building an expansive business development network. For instance, TCDC has recently signed an MOU with Taiwan Design Center in an initiative to hold the International Design Alliance (IDA) Congress 2011, which will be comparatively regarded as the Olympics of designers around the world. The event will serve as a springboard and business networking channel for Thai designers and entrepreneurs in their entrance into the global market.”

And most recently, TCDC has signed an MOU with the Department of Industrial Promotion, Ministry of Industry, to implement ‘Product Design and Development for Creative Industry SMEs’ project to help creative industry SMEs enhance the image of their products. The project emphasizes on bringing development and extending business opportunity to SMEs in four creative industries covering 15 fields of business: handicrafts, cultural and biodiversity-friendly tourism, Thai traditional medicine, Thai food, performing arts, visual arts, cinematography and videography, printing, broadcasting, music, design, fashion, architecture, advertising, and software. According to the database of the Department of Industrial Promotion, entrepreneurs in these fields of business make up more than half of the department’s database of 2.8 million registered entrepreneurs nationwide.

In the initial phase, the two partner organizations will jointly recruit 100 entrepreneurs into the project. Selected entrepreneurs are required to attend workshops and seminars to be held during the first month of the program, which will revolve around fundamental knowledge for creative industry entrepreneurs. The subjects include basic understanding of creative economy and interconnection of SMEs as part of creative economy development, creativity in product development, relevance of materials in creative product development, intellectual property rights, sources of business funding, marketing of products and services in modern market environment with insightful understanding of market demands, and case studies from entrepreneurs who have taken part in TCDC’s earlier project to ‘bring conceptual design to commercial production’. The training will be provided by experts from TCDC and many other related organizations, such as Thammasat University, the Department of Intellectual Property, and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank). After that, the number of project participants will be halved down to 50 entrepreneurs with well-balanced variety of products. The cut will be based on business development potential as well as commitment and financial capability of the entrepreneurs.

The qualified entrepreneurs will, during the second and third month of the program, attend another series of workshops for more in-depth training. The subjects include product uniqueness and differentiation, product classification for effective product development, cost analysis, production capacity, target customer analysis, product prototyping, packaging design and development, sales channels, market testing, and customer feedback survey for improvement. TCDC will along the way evaluate the improvements in terms of product quality, development, as well as marketing potential in local and international markets. Upon completion of the program, the entrepreneurs are expected to come up with a product with add-on development or a new product creation. Successful participants will be given the opportunities to be part of Ploy Saeng Festival: Create/Make/Earn and sell their products at The Shop@ TCDC.

According to Mr. Arthit Wuthikaro, Director-General of the Department of Industrial Promotion, the project coincides with the department’s mission and the department is clearly aware of TCDC’s role and objectives in supporting SMEs and increasing their accessibility to knowledge resources in creativity and design. With this opportunity for business growth, the SMEs can make their contributions by raising the standard of products and services to achieve marketability in both Thai and foreign markets.

The department will play its part in this project by recruiting and screening participants from its database of registered SMEs nationwide. Prospective SMEs will be classified by their field of business and consideration of the SMEs that meet initial criteria of the project also takes account of their physical profile. The list of selected SMEs will be sent to TCDC for more thorough analysis and consideration. In addition to this, in-depth information about the SMEs will be shared with TCDC, particularly in terms of their business operation, problems, and limitations, as well as recommendations about additional resources that the SMEs would need for their creative business development. The contribution is an effort to fulfill the needs and expand the opportunity of creative industry entrepreneurs in Thailand by providing them the ground for development and the channels to present their creative products to the public.