Blueprint ready for Fruit Metropolis in Chanthaburi to boost Thai exports
Thailand's Fruit Board will be asked to approve a blueprint for the creation of a “Fruit Metropolis” in Chanthaburi province, the agriculture minister’s adviser, Alongkorn Ponlaboot, said on Friday.
Alongkorn, who chairs a working group on the Chanthaburi Fruit Metropolis project, said that his panel would seek the board’s endorsement at its next meeting expected late this month or early January.
The project aims to upgrade Chanthaburi and other fruit-producing provinces in the eastern seaboard — including Rayong and Trat — to become a global fruits hub, according to Alongkorn, a senior figure in the coalition Democrat Party.
He noted that Thailand is a leading global exporter of fresh fruits and fruit products, with exports exceeding 200 billion baht last year.
Alongkorn said the proposed Fruit Metropolis is planned to be located in Chanthaburi's Na Yai Am and Tha Mai districts. Its construction will be carried out along with the upgradation of Chanthaburi Airport as a commercial airport.
The Fruit Metropolis area includes an e-commerce and online auction centre, exhibition and conference hall, fruit-processing centre, logistics centre and warehouse, cold storage, central laboratory, fruit sorting and packaging centre, fruit academy, and agri-tech and innovation centre.
He said the project is modelled after the Food Valley of the Netherlands and FKII of Japan.
Alongkorn said that the project will be a public-private partnership, with most investment coming from the private sector. A platform will be created to connect networks of cooperation between the public and private sectors, academics and farmers, as well as key export markets, including China, Japan, India, Asean countries, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia, Alongkorn said.
