Bangkok--Nov 23--DENTSU (THAILAND)
Pramote Witayasuk, Director-General of the Department of Industrial Promotion and Director of Bangkok Fashion City, reported today additional details on the progress of the Bangkok Fashion City program.
Witayasuk spoke today at a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel in Bangkok. The press conference was called to announce the opening of a new press center created for the Bangkok Fashion City program.
Said Witayasuk: “The Bangkok Fashion City program has had three principal goals. First, we intended to do all that we can to strengthen Thailand’s fashion and textile brands so that they can compete aggressively in domestic and international markets. Our second goal has been to deepen the skills and crafts of the human workforce that has long made Thailand’s garments and fabrics the envy of the world. Third, we have been seeking to encourage a substantial expansion of the number of international travelers who see Bangkok, its world-class stores, and its attractive fashion boutiques as a major tourist destination. We are announcing today substantial progress towards each of those goals.”
Added Witayasuk: “We are also announcing today the successful completion of an additional objective — our outreach to the private sector. We set out to seek additional support for Bangkok Fashion City and are happy to now report that Bangkok Fashion City has become a model of industry/government partnership. We intend to keep that spirit of productive cooperation alive as we move forward. It has been very reassuring to see the enthusiasm of by private companies, industry leaders, and educators who have agreed to align with one or more of the Bangkok Fashion City projects and to provide both volunteer and financial assistance. That enthusiastic support also serves to confirm that the each of the projects is moving forward in a way that is genuinely useful and stimulating to the industry’s growth and expansion — and that each project has been found to be helpful by the people who make their living in the industry every day. “
Building Human Resources
Bangkok International Fashion Academy was one of the first projects to be launched and it will be the very first to become independent as of January 2006. From that date forward, the academy curriculum will become a permanent part of Chulalongkorn University’s graduate school offerings. Another 19 institutions in Thailand have also been inspired to develop and offer fashion and apparel industry coursework, including an important commitment by the Lanna International Fashion Academy in Northern Thailand to focus on advanced training in the woven arts and craft of Thailand.
Begun as part of the human resource development initiative 18 months ago, BIFA will graduate its first class of students in January. Work from the first class of graduates will be put on public display at the Academy from December 19 through December 21.
Another major step forward in our human-source development initiative has been the opening of the Fashion Trend Center — the first library dedicated exclusively to fashion in Asia. Since the facility opened earlier this month, it has been much in demand by other institutions wanting to use the library for seminars and research in curriculum development — which is exactly what it was built for.
Developing Industry
Said Witayasuk: “A principal goal of Bangkok Fashion City has been to advance training and introduce new techniques into the vital jewelry, garment, textile, leathergoods and footwear trades in Thailand. To that end, we have completed our first round of seminars and workshops, and have created the beginnings of a database on sustainable enterprise that will be available to entrepreneurs who are starting or expanding small businesses in these trade areas. “
Witayasuk, in his remarks, gave particular attention to a seminar series co-sponsored by the gems and jewelry industry, which focused on the making of purple gold, a new industry trend that so far has been dominated by workshops in Singapore. The goal of the seminar, said Witayasuk, is to make Thailand a second strong center for this growing business line.
Said Witayasuk: “We are also happy to report that six companies are collaborating in the creation of a software package for entrepreneurs that will be available at a discount to industry members. Other software projects supported by Bangkok Fashion City are also underway including the creation of a software package for brand analysis that is being developed under the supervision of the Thonburi campus of King Mongkut University of Technology.”
Promoting Bangkok
Witayasuk also highlighted the success of Bangkok Fashion Week 2005, saying that the catwalk shows and events in August 2005 have shown the program’s ability to attract international buyers and audiences to Bangkok as a fashion and design center. Said Witayasuk: “Since that event in August of this year, there have been dozens of articles in the domestic and foreign language press have been circulated to millions of readers worldwide. This Sunday alone, a major feature article on Bangkok’s emergence as an international fashion design center appeared in the New York Times and was immediately picked up and reprinted by the powerful International Herald Tribune. No other international media have as much power over the global fashion industry as do these two. “
Added Witayasuk: “With the fashion week, which will be repeated in March of next year, with the roadshow trips to fashion capitals in Asia and Europe, and with the distribution of a series of top fashion reports, we have succeeded in record time in putting Bangkok squarely on the world fashion calendar, which was a key objective of the program. It is already bringing international shoppers to Bangkok. More importantly, it has resulted in measurable, increased sales by Bangkok designers who are now aggressively selling their product lines under their own brands in the major boutiques and department stores of North America, North Asia, and Europe.”
Witayasuk noted that the fashion book series — SCREAM which features Thailand haute couture, STREET which focuses on ready-to-wear, and several other volumes — have had hundreds of on-line orders and will soon be available for sale internationally through the Amazon website which sells more books worldwide than any other book seller in the world.
Concluded Witayasuk: “We are launching today the Bangkok Fashion City Press Centre which will act as a coordinating hub for all public information on the program and its many growing projects. The press center will have two locations — the first in dedicated space on the twenty-seventh floor of the U Chu Liang Bldg on Rama IV Rd. and the second location at the official offices of Bangkok Fashion City, on the 6th Fl. Office of the Department of Industrial Promotion on Rama VI Rd. All members of the press are welcome to make full use of the center and all should know that we are completely dedicated to providing the media with the latest and most useful information we can on this Bangkok Fashion City — a program which is proving to be one of the most remarkable and successful models of industrial development in Thailand history.”
CONTACTS:
For more Information please contact:
Bangkok Fashion Press Center
Tel. (66 2) 275 4486 End.