The Ministry of Commerce of Thailand has launched two feasibility studies which will tap into applying blockchain in trade finance and intellectual property registration. According to the Bangkok Post, the studies are projected to be completed at the beginning of 2019. Pimchanok Vonkorpon, Director of Thailand’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), stated the British Embassy has given strong support to this project.

How can blockchain enhance efficiency and trust?

Thanks to blockchain technology, the whole process will be shortened, which effectively leads to cost reduction in trade financing. Moreover, blockchain enables the increase in transparency, according to Pimchanok. When it comes to IP, blockchain will tackle issues head-on that are related to managing IP, company registration as well as traceability.

As such, various angles will be covered including opportunities to commercialize intellectual property using blockchain, smart contracts application as well as intellectual property registration. In addition, the project will also conduct research on the legislation related to intellectual property and its management process.

Organic Rice Exports

Besides trade finance and intellectual property, the TPSO is also conducting research on blockchain application in exporting organic rice, aiming to eliminate delays and reduce costs in the process. Currently, it takes 15-20 days to process organic rice exports from Southeast Asian nations since bureaucracy was heavily involved, which ultimately led to the increase in associated expenses.

With blockchain, the process is projected to be reduced to less than 3 days while transparency will be improved, which will benefit the stakeholders since trust will be boosted in the supply chain.

Pro-Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

Since Thailand holds a fairly positive point of view towards blockchain and cryptocurrencies, the studies by TPSO have triggered no surprise. This is evident through multiple events happening in the last couple of months.

For instance, the Bank of Thailand revealed that they are exploring the use of blockchain in cross-border payments, supply-chain financing and document authentication as of several months ago.

Additionally, in the same period, the Thai Bond Market Association revealed that they are conducting research on a token enabling instant clearing and settlement using blockchain technology.

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