Mingkwan 'brings whiff of fresh air' to ministry

"He would like to change the ministry's look," an Industry Ministry source, who had a meeting with him last week, said. "I believe his interesting ideas could modernise the country's industrial sector.

"For example, Mingkwan has assigned the Thai-German Institute to develop local herbs in a bid to boost Thailand as a hub of the herb-medicine industry," he said.

Mingkwan realises the country has the potential to become world leader in the hospital and medicine business.

"Most countries that are famous for advanced treatment are more expensive than Thailand. Hence, if we develop and promote this industry we can attract foreign patients, particularly from the Middle East, to come for treatment here," he explained.

Mingkwan has also suggested to the National Food Institute (NFI) that it come up with a plan to promote Thai traditional food in liaison with the entertainment industry. It is possible to make Thai food trendy in the same way that soap operas such as "Dae Jang Guem" did with Korean food, the source said.

"The Thai Kitchen of the World project has now ended. If the industry minister wants to retain this project, he may rename it for a better image," the source said. Thai Kitchen of the World was a project created in the time of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

NFI has initiated a Food Innovation and Technology project to encourage food-producers to focus more on technology transfer with other countries. It plans to propose a budget of Bt15 million to Bt20 million for this project.

Meanwhile Mingkwan has told senior officials that he will try and persuade well-known brands in Italy to outsource to Thailand because Italian small and medium-sized operators face losses to cheap copycats in China.

Mingkwan has scheduled meetings with other agencies and departments as well as the US ambassador and executives from leading companies such as Asahi Glass this week.