Written by Mekong Institute
The Mekong Institute (MI) in cooperation with the provincial government of KhonKaen province successfully organized an “International Seminar Cum Business Matching on Silk Development” on September 12-13, 2014, Centara Hotel and Convention Center, KhonKaen. The event aimed at enhancing the capability and fulfilling the potential of silk businesses in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), while sharing points of view on global trends of silk products. The seminar also incorporated a business matching activity aiming at strengthening and expanding the network among silk entrepreneurs and businesses in some Northeastern provinces of Thailand, India and other countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam and China. The ultimate goal of this event was to equip participating companies and communities with tools and knowledge to compete better in both ASEAN and the world market.
The International Seminar Cum Business Matching yields a satisfactory result reflected by the high-scored evaluation and successful business matching. The following parts are evaluation results, session summaries, and measurable results of the business matching activity.
The International Seminar Cum Business Matching attracted a total of 212 participants, including major silk brand owners and manufacturers, SME silk production groups, exporters and importers, intermediaries of silk products, leaders from silk-related government and international agencies, academia and other entrepreneurs from provinces such as Roi-et, KhonKaen, Mahasarakham, Kalasin, NakornRatchasima, Petchaboon, Chiang Mai, Mukdahan, Pitsanulok and Bangkok. The event aimed at gaining insight into needs and support required to furthering development of silk producers and exporters. Moreover, facilitating business networks and long-term cooperation among silk business owners in the ASEAN countries and beyond was one of the key objectives. The organizer of the event also wished to develop a database of silk business owners for business networking, to further enhance the competitiveness of silk business owners in ASEAN.