A Study on One village One Product Project (OVOP) in Japan and Thailand as

an Alternative of Community evelopment in !ndonesia" A Perspective on

Japan and Thailand
#oopin Claymone
$
%ac&ground !nformation a'out the Project
This paper came from the research project entitled A Study on One village
One Product Project (OVOP) in Japan and Thailand as an Alternative of ommunity
!evelopment in "ndonesia# $hich $as inspired %y Professor !r& 'iroshi (urayama
from )itsumei*an +niversity $ho gave us the opportunities to attain an "nternational
OVOP Policy Association ("OPA)# onference held at ,hejiang +niversity in hina
-
&
)esults from participating in the present article in that conference. allo$s our
researcher team to %ring issues to $rite a research proposal named a%ove& /inally. this
research proposal $as granted %y Office of )esearch Administration. Thammasat
+niversity& The o%jectives of the study are 0) to study the effectiveness of policies of
One Village One Product (OVOP) project in Japan& -) to study the effectiveness of
policies of One Tam%on One Product (OTOP) project in Thailand& 1) to study $ays of
developing communities in "ndonesia and 2) to analy3e the development options
$ithin the communities in "ndonesia through One Village One Product (OVOP)
project&
The result of study $as found that failure of the One village One Product
project of "ndonesia and Thailand caused %y the three elements $hich are as follo$s4
0) the pro%lems of not understanding the true philosophy and the approach of the
OVOP project -) The pro%lems of the Top5!o$n policy. and 1) the 6uality of human
resources& "f "ndonesia selected to use OVOP approach. it $ould have developed a
community5%ased on the OVOP project. and then it must %e %ug the OVOP project in
Thailand and "ndonesia as a lesson and seriously use the philosophy of OVOP in
Japan as a model for community development in "ndonesia&
This article $ill cover only part of the development of One village One
Product Project (OVOP) especially. a perspective on Japan and Thailand&
0
7oopin laymone& Senior )esearcher of "nstitute of 8ast Asian Studies. Thammasat +niversity.
Thailand&
-
7oopin laymome& (-99:)& A study for Sustaina%le ;ocal !evelopment through One To$n One
Product4 An Overvie$ of OTOP in Thailand# . Paper $as presented in "nternational OVOP Policy
Association ("OPA)# onference. at ,hejiang +niversity. Shanghai. hina&
0
One Village One Product (OVOP) Concept
The OVOP concept is a uni6ue approach to local development $hich $as the
%rain of the Japanese former <overnor of Oita prefecture. 'iramatsu. $ho used his
previous e=perience and e=posure in the Japanese (inistry of 8conomy. Trade and
"ndustry ((8T") to aim for a solution to Oita>s serious rural economic decline& This
approach has %een very successful in the Japanese prefecture of Oita and has attracted
and continues to attract $ide international appeal. particularly in developing
countries. %ecause of its potential to reverse local decay and decline& The countries
that have em%raced OVOP include Thailand. Vietnam. ?orea. hina. am%odia.
Philippines. ;aos. and "ndonesia in South 8ast Asia
1
&
The essence of OVOP lies in value addition to local products to generate
higher incomes for local communities. as $ell as in transforming local environments
to ma*e them attractive to local residents and tourists& "n that regard it runs in line
$ith the ne$ thrust to$ards local economic development and the value addition %eing
promoted through Programme& OVOP is a distinctive approach to rural community
development in $hich latent local community creativity and potential is triggered.
through effective local leadership and human resources development. and directed at
community revitalisation through development of uni6ue products that have strong
mar*et appeal& "ts overall aim is to develop and consolidate local self5organising
capa%ility for sustaina%le local development and poverty reduction&
There are the three principles as follo$s4 (i) self5reliance and creativity (ii)
human resources development. and (iii) thin*ing locally %ut acting glo%ally& ;ocal
people ta*e the lead. independent of e=ternal prompting and largely on their o$n
creativity and self5reliance. to ma*e uni6ue products from local resources for their
o$n good and to capture mar*ets e=ternal to their locality& "n the process they
develop their e=pertise through production of competitive products. their livelihoods
improve due to enhanced incomes. and their communities develop closer %onds at the
same time& The OVOP rural community development concept has %een implemented
in different $ays $here it has %een introduced. depending on the over all o%jectives
and the uni6ue circumstances of each country& As a result. it $as $idely adopted %y
many local governments of Japan
2
and spread to the rest of the $orld&
1
Oita "nternational 8=change Promotion ommittee (August -99@). AOne Village. One Product>
Spreading Throughout the Borld&
2
"gusa. ?unio& <lo%ali3ation in Asia and ;ocal revitali3ation effort4 A vie$ from One Village One
Product (OVOP) in Oita&
-
One Village One Product (OVOP) Concept in Japan
The concept of One Village One Product (OVOP) $as initiated in 0C:CD it has
%een a successful model for the development of Oita Prefecture and other parts of
Japan& The Oita OVOP model is classic %ecause it is the model that has %een
emulated in other countries $ith different variation& The Oita OVOP model
developed from locally5led Amovements> $hich aimed at gradual. long5term and
intrinsic community revitalisation. to %e pursued through the formulation of local
leaders#&
E
The impetus for this $as the preceding rapid post5$ar economic gro$th
and transformation in Japan $hich. $hile generating tremendous %enefits for the
country as a $hole. concentrated most of these %enefits in ur%an areas leaving rural
areas desolate and 6uite unattractive. particularly for the young& The resultant
disillusionment $ith too rapid industrialisation
@
led to a shift in national policy from
concentration on economic gro$th to %alanced socio5economic development. $hich
provided the frame$or* for interest in rural and community development&
"n the case of Oita local movements sprung up. specifically in Oyama. in
$hich local communities (strong local leadership) too* various steps to rejuvenate
their areas& These actions. $hich included community dialogues and net$or*ing.
local leadership formation through after $or* school. promotion of culture and sport.
and enhancing tourism. $ere given support %y the Oita prefecture& OVOP $as
intended to %e the main or only socio5economic development strategy for the Oita
prefecture. it $as considered a su%stitute to attracting industries to Oita& )ather. it
$as meant to %e a complementary strategy to other interventions. %ut $ith special
focus on promoting economic and social $ell %eing of rural communities through
leadership action& 8mphasis $as placed on economical use of resources and
environmental conservation. o$ing to scarcity of natural resources in Japan generally&
To deal $ith the pro%lems of mar*et circulation and sharpening competition. value
addition focused on promoting product originality. uni6ueness and diversity& 'uman
resource development targeted leaders or those $ith potential to %ecome leaders&
:

"n terms of administrative structure. OVOP in Oita $as coordinated %y a
section in the Oita prefecture government called the OVOP Promotion ouncil& This
responsi%ility $as transferred to the Oita "nternational 8=change Promotion
ommittee& OVOP activities are financed %y donations from the private sector such
as To*i$a !epartment Store rather than from the prefecture government&
OVOP in Oita depends a great deal on partnership among government. the
community and the private sector& "t targets local. national and e=ternal mar*ets& At
E
)i*a /ujio*a. (-99@) A;earning from OVOP in Japan and OTOP in Thailand for the Application to
;(V ountries> (paper presented at the $or*shop on "ntegrated ommunity !evelopment for the
(e*ong )egion4 One Village One Product (ovement in ;(V ountries># %y Asian Productivity
Organi3ations4 !ecem%er -99@). p&0&
@
)apid industriali3ation led to e=tensive ur%an congestion and pollution. on the one hand. and. on the
other hand. it dre$ people a$ay from their land and community and left them Ahanging> in unfriendly
ur%an centre&
:
The Oita Prefecture One Village One Product -0 Promotion ouncil. One Village One Product -04
Fringing the Spirit of the ountry to the ity. p&-
1
the local level A'ometo$n> and Aroadside> stations sell OVOP products $ithin Oita
prefecture& Feyond the local level. antenna shops and product fairs have %een set up
outside Oita prefecture and To*i$a !epartment Store has a specific AOVOP corner>&
All this is intended to enhance (ross )ational Satisfaction (<GS). and not just to
e=pand Japan>s <ross Gational Product (<GP)& 8mphasis has %een placed on using
resources $ithin the community for the community %enefit. so that there is a direct
lin* %et$een product development and community development&
H
At international
level. OVOP products have %een mar*eted through careful analysis of international
mar*ets and emphasising in superior 6uality and effective distri%ution&
(oreover. Japan is $illing to share and promote the initiative to other
developing nations through international arena such as %ilateral and multilateral
cooperation frame$or*s& To promote the OVOP initiative to other countries. Japan.
together $ith Borld Fan*. has %een actively cooperating $ith national and local
government in each country through its agencies such as Japan "nternational
ooperation Agency (J"A). Japan Fan* of "nternational ooperation (JF") and
Japan 8=ternal Trade Organi3ation (J8T)O). Japanese Gon5governmental
Organi3ations (G<Os). local governments. and individual volunteers&
C
The OVOP
movement $as also included in regional and glo%al forum and institutions& One of
them is in Japan>s Ge$ !evelopment "nitiative for Trade# $hich $as presented at
BTO (inisterial onference in 'ong ?ong in -99E&
09
Asian Productivity
Organi3ation (APO) also focused on the promotion of OVOP movement in its
programme. "ntegrated ommunity !evelopment ("!) -99E5-99@ for (e*ong
)egion (am%odia. ;aos. (yanmar and Vietnam)&
00
"n addition to the movement.
Japan dispatch e=perts to help e=plore and improve the potential products and accept
trainees from various countries to Japan $ith the aim of 'uman )esource
!evelopment&
0-

H
"%id p&E
C
Annual Borld Fan* onference on !evelopment 8conomics <lo%al. -99:& )ethin*ing
"nfrastructure for !evelopment#. p& --@&
09
O!8. -99@& The !evelopment !imension4 Aid for Trade. (a*ing it 8ffective. p& @@&
00
Asian Productivity Organi3ation& !evelopment through )ural "ndustriali3ation and Get$or*ing
among Sta*eholders4 Application of the luster Approach to )ural !evelopment. 00502 !ecem%er
-99:. /u*uo*a. Japan&
0-
(asa*i. 'isane& Shopping at the Village Stall4 Japan>s ne$ development initiative #& http4II
japanforcus&orgIproductsIdetailsI0HE:. accessed 0: April -999&
2
%ac&ground of One Tam'on One Product (OTOP) in Thailand
Thailand has played a certain level of social and economic progress and integrated
into the glo%al economy through moderni3ation since 0C@9s from the time $hen the first
Gational 8conomics !evelopment Plan (0C@050C@E) %egan& Feing an agriculture5%ased
economy. agricultural development in Thailand. $as a strategy in the progress of rural
development during the 0C@9s and 0C:9s& Then. it $as follo$ed %y a shift in the mid5
0CH9s a$ay from agriculture to manufacturing and services sectors& There $ere pro%lems
in agriculturalIrural sector in those periods& +ne6ual distri%ution of income and gro$th
among ur%an and rural communities drove into poverty. and rural development $as given
top priority since 0C:9& 8arlier policies on agricultural or rural development emphasi3ed
areas $ith a high concentration of resource allocation and development potential& "t $as
%ecause agriculture $as the mainstay of the majority of the Thai population. and
development effort $as focus mainly on economic gro$th&
Only from the /ifth !evelopment Plan (0CH-50CH@) that social dimension $as
officially addressed and integrated into the Plan& Thus. Gational 8conomic !evelopment
Plan# $as changed to %e Gational 8conomic and Social !evelopment Plan#& The
government identified rural development as a primary sector in $hich to target poverty& "n
the Si=th Plan (0CH:50CC0). the poverty reduction policy addressed income distri%ution and
the development in the rural areas& "n the Seventh Plan. the poverty issue $as incorporated
in the policy %y enhancing the 6uality of life such as medical care program for the poor and
etc& On the contrary. amid the 0CC: crisis. the agricultural and rural sector has demonstrated
its innate strength of Thai society to respond to the situation in term of increased
production and in its a%ility to a%sor% high levels of reverse rural5ur%an migration& The
rural sector $as the shoc*5a%sor%er that $elcomed millions people from the %ig cities $ho.
having lost their jo%s and choosing to go %ac* to their home to$n and their families& 8ven
though %ig %usiness in the ur%an areas had to close do$n. the rural sector survived due to
its richness in natural resources as $ell as its social capital deeply rooted in the Thai
culture& "n addition. the rural sector $as a%le to a%sor% the influ= of great num%er of jo%less
people& (any of them turned to activities that their families practiced in everyday life. and
perhaps injecting a little more creativity into them& /or e=ample. some tried producing
%ottled fruit juice of snac*s from local and indigenous fruits& Some turned to handicrafts
such as %as*etry. $eaving and ma*ing gift items from sil* and cotton& Other helped their
families $ith farming chores& ?no$ledge in coo*ing. handicrafts and agriculture $as so
common in Thai life& The crisis %egan in the first year of the implementation of the 8ighth
Gational Social and 8conomic !evelopment Plan (0CC:5-990)& Thus. there $as a need to
revise the plan in order to deal $ith the national crisis& "t $as focused to citi3en
participation and $as a major step to$ard the mo%ili3ation of people from all $al*s of life
to play more active role in the process of national development&
01

01
7u$anuch T"GGA;+?&. -99E. ?no$ledge reation and Sustaina%le !evelopment4 A
olla%oration Process %et$een Thai ;ocal Bisdom and (odern Science. +niversite de Poitiers&
E
At the same time that the government $as trying to solve the pro%lems in %usiness
and financial sectors. the rural sector $as also given more importance& The government
%egan to reali3e the more potential of the rural sector in a%sor%ing jo%less people from the
%ig cities& Various projects $ere initiated to generate jo%s and incomes in the rural sector&
/or e=ample. the Social "nvestment /und (S"/)
02
$as a four5year project (0CCH5-99-)
funded %y a 2&H %illion +&S& dollar loan from the Borld Fan*& The Village )evolving /und
$as a national scheme for a one million %aht lending fund to each of around seventy5t$o
thousand villages across Thailand& And the famous government>s One Tam%on (su%5
district). One Product (OTOP) initiative is the major scheme to promote community or
grassroots economy& This OTOP idea $as %orro$ed from Oita5 a Japanese village that
creates uni6ue products for the village as tourists> attraction in order to generate %etter
income among villagers. %ut adapted to the Thai conte=t at national scale&
The OTOP (One Tam%on One Product ) !evelopment Policy $as initiated %y the
)oyal Thai <overnment ()T<) in -999. under the leadership of !r& Tha*sin Shina$atra.
the Prime (inister of Thailand at that time& The Tam%on is an administrative unit in
Thailand roughly e6uivalent to a district& AOne Tam%on One Product> (OTOP) is Thailand>s
version of OVOP& The %rain %ehind it $as e=5prime minister Than*sin. a
telecommunication %usiness. $ho visited Oita $ith his senior officials several occasions to
get first hand understanding of the revolutionary changes. and these visits led to
coordinated government adoption and adaptation of OVOP to the specific circumstances of
Thailand& The legacy of centralised administration in Thailand arising out centuries of
a%solute monarchism made a centrali3ed approach to OVOP the natural choice& Although
OTOP (li*e OVOP) has adopted a %ottom5up implementation modality that hinges on
government5community5private sector partnership. and is %ased on the same three
principles (i&e& Think Globally, Act LocallyD Independence and CreativityD and Fostering
Human Resources). it is formulated and implemented %y the Thai central government. $ith
strict guidelines for product development and mar*eting& OTOP (li*e OVOP) is not
promoted as the only or even main development strategy for ThailandD rather it is part of
the Thailand>s dual trac* development policy of fostering the nation>s competitiveness.
$hile stimulating domestic consumption and empo$erment of grassroots communities#&
0E
OTOP is directed and coordinated from the top %y the Gational OTOP Administrative
ommittee (GOA). $ith su%5committees comprising officials from line ministries at
national. provincial and district levels& OTOP activities are %ased on an annual project
master plan. $hich is funded directly from the national %udget& The %udget for OTOP is
managed %y GOA and is used to fund activities in the OTOP annual project master plan&
02
Social "nvestment /und 5 S"/ $as %orn out of the Social "nvestment Project J S"P that $as designed
to alleviate social impact due to the economic crisis& S"P $as later separated into Social "nvestment
/und (S"/). and )egional +r%an !evelopment /und ()+!/)& The availa%ility of S"P allo$ed G<Os to
ac6uire fund to create projects aimed at meeting the Poor>s %asic needs
0E
)i*a /ujio*a. "%id. p&-
@
OVOP project on the success of Japan and failure of Thailand
One of the finding $as that OTOP seemed to %e different from original OVOP
movement& OTOP aimed at poverty reduction in rural areas and also vitali3ation of
grassroots economy and for achieving the goal. the government provided various supports
to farmer groups in the form of su%sidy as $ell as trainings&#
0@
Thai OTOP is under strong
government initiatives. the movement is completely different from Japanese prototype
OVOP& The movement $as a central government policy not an endogenous movement& "t is
$idely accepted %y the product championship system $ith the five star grading& 'o$ever.
it is changing under the decentralisation process and strongly assisted %y "T including
$e% site %ased mar*eting and technology e=change&
Bhile OVOP is %ased on a gradual. long5term development strategy. OTOP aims at
rapid development of community entrepreneurship& Among the measures promoted to
achieve this is periodic designation of certain individuals or groups as AOTOP Village
hampion> and assigning Anum%er one> or five star status to certain products %ased on
government5set selection criteria for value addition& "n its origin and intent OTOP products
are aimed at national and e=ternal mar*ets rather than local community consumption or
use. $hich is an important distinction from Oita>s OVOP& OTOP focuses primarily on
producing outstanding products that can compete successfully in ur%an and e=ternal
mar*ets& ommunity participation in the production of OTOP products is not that much
important. unli*e in the case of OVOP& Of more significance to OTOP are those
individuals and groups that can produce such products& Thus. community self5reliance and
creativity $hich is so central to OVOP is of secondary importance to OTOP& "t is value
addition that really matters& "n short. the essential difference %et$een OTOP and OVOP is
that OTOP is primarily economic in outloo* and intent. fundamentally targets ur%an and
e=ternal mar*ets. and is less concerned $ith development of the local community&
OTOP movement has its pro%lem from 1 causes as follo$s4 0) <lo%al (ar*et
oncentration& OTOP policy mostly concentrates in glo%al mar*et level in Practice&
Geglect of %ases mar*et as local mar*et and national mar*et. the mar*et place of OTOP
never %een sta%le& -) <overnment )elia%le& OTOP movement is Top5!o$n policy from
Ta*sin government %ut after changing the government OTOP policy $as not longer
concerned& "ndividual entrepreneurs $ho lie on government are suffer from mar*et failure
%ecause originally from its start. the government al$ays offer them %y finding support
mar*et& Bithout policy support scheme. OTOP movement is free3ing& An "ndividual
8ntrepreneurs should play more role as self5reliance not depended on <overnment support&
1) ;ac* of suita%ility ?no$ledge& "t seems effected as the follo$ing government relia%le
pro%lem& Since. in order to encourage an individual entrepreneur to play an important role
in OTOP movement rather than lie on <overnment support. individual entrepreneurs must
have an appropriate capacity& /or e=ample. one of the principles is to %ring internet
technology to villages and hope that this $ill %e the starting point of the Tam%on "nternet
0@
J"A (-99H) )eport of the Project /ormulation (ission for the Project for Vitali3ation of )ural Areas
through OVOP (ovement in Timor5 ;este#
:
Project& Fut there are no human resources $ho *no$ ho$ to use internet in many Tam%on&
'ence. this *ind of phenomena is a pro%lem a%out suita%ility ?no$ledge for using
technology&
"n conclusion. haracteristics of OTOP project is a Top5!o$n policy unli*e OVOP
policy $hich is Fottom5+p& (oreover. there is a $ea* point in OVOP concept that adapted
to the Thai community enterprise& "t>s a government $ith po$er over people& This po$er is
%ased on the transformation policy of the campaign as a concrete political parties that
initiated the OTOP& The goal of this project is to ac6uire the voice in the election ne=t
time& The OTOP project is counted as a populist&
A result of the OTOP project is not strengthening the community& "nstead. focuses
on productivity rather than to strengthen the community& Thus. the failure of the One
Tam%on One Product project of Thailand caused %y the three elements $hich are as
follo$sD the pro%lems of not understanding the true philosophy and the approach of the
OVOP project. the pro%lems of the Top5!o$n policy. and the 6uality of human resources
$hich are the same results as an alternative of community development in "ndonesia&
H
*eferemces
Annual Borld Fan* onference on !evelopment 8conomics <lo%al. -99:&
Asian Productivity Organi3ation& !evelopment through )ural "ndustriali3ation and
Get$or*ing among Sta*eholders4 Application of the luster Approach to
)ural !evelopment. 00502 !ecem%er -99:. /u*uo*a. Japan&
"gusa. ?unio& <lo%ali3ation in Asia and ;ocal revitali3ation effort4 A vie$ from One
Village One Product (OVOP) in Oita&
J"A (-99H) )eport of the Project /ormulation (ission for the Project for Vitali3ation of
)ural Areas through OVOP (ovement in Timor5 ;este#
(asa*i. 'isane& Shopping at the Village Stall4 Japan>s ne$ development initiative#
http4II japanforcus&orgIproductsIdetailsI0HE:. accessed 0: April -999&
O!8. -99@& The !evelopment !imension4 Aid for Trade. (a*ing it 8ffective.
p& @@&
Oita "nternational 8=change Promotion ommittee (August -99@). AOne Village.
One Product> Spreading Throughout the Borld&
)ethin*ing "nfrastructure for !evelopment#. p& --@&
)i*a /ujio*a. (-99@) A;earning from OVOP in Japan and OTOP in Thailand for the
Application to ;(V ountries> (paper presented at the $or*shop on
"ntegrated ommunity !evelopment for the (e*ong )egion4 One Village
One Product (ovement in ;(V ountries># %y Asian Productivity
Organi3ations4 !ecem%er -99@). p&0&
Social "nvestment /und 5 S"/ $as %orn out of the Social "nvestment Project J S"P that
$as designed to alleviate social impact due to the economic crisis& S"P $as
later separated into Social "nvestment /und (S"/). and )egional +r%an
!evelopment /und ()+!/)& The availa%ility of S"P allo$ed G<Os to ac6uire
fund to create projects aimed at meeting the Poor>s %asic needs
The Oita Prefecture One Village One Product -0 Promotion ouncil. One Village
One Product -04 Fringing the Spirit of the ountry to the ity. p&-
7oopin laymome& (-99:)& A study for Sustaina%le ;ocal !evelopment through
One To$n One Product4 An Overvie$ of OTOP in Thailand# . Paper $as
presented in "nternational OVOP Policy Association ("OPA)# onference. at
,hejiang +niversity. Shanghai. hina&
7u$anuch T"GGA;+?&. -99E. ?no$ledge reation and Sustaina%le !evelopment4
A olla%oration Process %et$een Thai ;ocal Bisdom and (odern Science.
+niversite de Poitiers&
C