Food Science and Technology Association president Darunee Edwards said the special ingredients, such as papaya extract and food colourings, require high technology and special know-how to produce. Their value has increased twice in the past decade.

She said one of the main reasons for Thailand's dependence on imports was the low spending on research and development in food technology. At present just 0.26 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) is spent in this area, compared with 2 per cent of GDP in developed countries. Thailand's research and development budget is about Bt10 billion a year.

Darunee said Thailand has plenty of agricultural products from which special food ingredients can be extracted for creating value-added products. Food and technology researchers have consistently enhanced their capacity to develop methods of extracting various ingredients, deliver them to manufacturers, and educate the public.

However, despite the many achievements of scientists, they still fall short of boosting development of the country's entire food industry.

With current political uncertainty, the continuity of the existing research and development budget may also be affected.

Darunee said that while it costs Thailand Bt100 billion to import special ingredients, it exports finished food products worth Bt700 billion a year. Exports of food products have shown no signs of faltering because the economies of overseas market countries remain in good condition.

The Food Science and Technology Association of Thailand will be one of six organisations teaming up with an overseas organiser, CMP Information, to host the "Food Ingredients Asia" exhibition at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in September.

The event will showcase the products of more than 7,500 international food ingredient manufacturers and 200 trading companies from around the world.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation