Tax reduction mooted for Thailand gem and jewelry industry

By John Le Fevre

BANGKOK (thaivisa.com): -- Thailand’s gem and jewelry industry is set to receive a boost with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva forecasting changes aimed at ensuring the industry’s growth, as well as positioning in the world market.

Ranked as the 14th largest gems and jewelry exporter in the world, Thailand’s gems and jewelry industry was the country’s fourth top foreign exchange earner in 2008, and records sales of around Bt280 billion (about $US8.2 billion) annually.

While Thailand’s tourism industry is generally acknowledged to employ somewhere in the vicinity of two million people, the gems and jewelry industry employs somewhere around 1.2 million people, with about 75 percent working in cottage industries in more than 20 provinces.

Prime Minister Abhisit said that in addition to being a powerful export earner, the gems and jewelry business also contributed to Thailand’s tourism industry, with about 10 percent of the country’s tourism revenue derived from tourists spending on gems and jewelry products.

He said just as other industries were facing challenges from changes in the global economic situation, so too the gems and jewelry industry needed to adjust itself to cope with problems concerning raw materials, tax structure, and new rules and regulations.

Mr Abhisit said the government was ready to support Thailand’s gems and jewelry industry in a manner appropriate and responsive to the changing situation, including introducing legislation more favorable to the industry and which will enhance Thailand’s competitiveness in the long run.

Amongst the support to be provided will be training for skill development in production, processing, and designing, as well as seeking new markets in China, India, Russia, and the Middle East.

The government will also develop a long-term plan to ensure that the country will have sufficient raw materials for the gems and jewelry industry, with a tax reduction for imported raw materials being mooted by the PM.

-- thaivisa.com 2009-07-16

So the tax reduction is not being supported by the PM? "Mooted" usually means doubtful or of no practical value. Is this post talking about the VAT being removed from jewelry imports reported last week or a different type of tax?