Bangkok To Be Hub Of Autos, Electronics And Food

[george]

Bangkok Beefs Up Bid to Become Auto Hub

BANGKOK: -- Thailand promised on Wednesday to liberalize its tax and tariff regime to help lure foreign investment as Bangkok bids to become a regional hub for the auto, electronics and food industries.

Thai Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya called on foreign businessmen at a luncheon in Bangkok to give him proposals on how the country could better attract their money.

"Our auto industry expects to achieve 1 million-vehicle annual production this year, of which over 30 percent is being exported. We plan to do whatever necessary to raise the output to 2 million in five years," he told the group.

Thailand is the second-biggest producer of one-ton pick-up trucks, after the United States. Its vehicles and auto parts account for nearly 10 percent of its total exports.

Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda have recently announced plans to invest a combined $1.5 billion to expand their production capacities in Thailand in the next few years, Thanong said.

He pledged to review taxes and tariffs on 1,400 categories of electronic parts and products as part of the bid to to make Thailand an electronics production centre in the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations in three years.

"Our officials have been instructed to look at all the tax bottlenecks with the aim of liberalizing them," he said, without giving further details.

Thanong played down concerns about security problems in Thailand's Muslim south, where more than 1,000 people have died in unrest the government has blamed on Muslim separatists.

He said the violence, which has dragged on for nearly two years, had little impact on an economy expected to grow 4.5 percent this year, albeit down from 6.1 percent last year.

"The problems there have existed for 200 years. Give the government twp to three years, and it can settle the problems," he said.

Thanong also urged foreigners to invest in a planned 1.8 trillion baht ($44 billion) infrastructure program.

Bidding for the projects -- which include new and upgraded transit systems, highways and power plants -- would be transparent and would not compromise the government's fiscal discipline, he said.

The government says it intends to finish its "mega-projects" by 2009, but some economists are concerned the program will exacerbate a yawning current account deficit.

--Reuters 2005-11-24

[Jai Dee]

The government says it intends to finish its "mega-projects" by 2009, ...

I wonder if anyone's got a definitive list of these "mega-projects"...

[cdnvic]

From Roget's Thesaurus...

Hub: Synonyms

axis, bull's-eye, centrality, centriole, centrum, core, cynosure, equidistance, essence, focal point, focus, gist, heart, hotbed, inside, interior, intermediacy, kernel, kernel, mainstream, marrow, midpoint, midst, nave, navel, nucleus, pith, pivot, place, polestar, quick, radiant, root, seat

So.....

Enough of the ###### hubs! For ##### sake use some imagination, grab a ##### thesaurus, open it up to the bloody "H" section and find a new ##### name to call your hairbrained ideas that are little more than face enhancing pronouncments of some ##### minister of whatever who's only talent is to smile for a ##### press conference.

[mijan24]

From Roget's Thesaurus...

Hub: Synonyms

Enough of the ###### hubs! For ##### sake use some imagination, grab a ##### thesaurus, open it up to the bloody "H" section and find a new ##### name to call your hairbrained ideas that are little more than face enhancing pronouncments of some ##### minister of whatever who's only talent is to smile for a ##### press conference.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

cv i may well be misinterpreting the tone of your post but it certainly - "to me anyway" seems as if you may be a little "tiffed" with the constant use of the word "HUB" by our PM & his boys?

Did you stop to consider that there may not be enough home grown expertise to delve into the depths of "Roget's Thesaurus" - I would even venture to say you may have put the hub amongst the books - and right this very minute someone somewhere is looking up the TM reference on Mr Roget Thesaurus to ensure he is not on overstay & also checking to see if this individual whose name has been so brazenly broadcast on TV has a WP in regards to providing alternatives for the ever so popular vagaries of the PM and his boys.

[JRinger]

From Roget's Thesaurus...

Hub: Synonyms

Enough of the ###### hubs! For ##### sake use some imagination, grab a ##### thesaurus, open it up to the bloody "H" section and find a new ##### name to call your hairbrained ideas that are little more than face enhancing pronouncments of some ##### minister of whatever who's only talent is to smile for a ##### press conference.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

cv i may well be misinterpreting the tone of your post but it certainly - "to me anyway" seems as if you may be a little "tiffed" with the constant use of the word "HUB" by our PM & his boys?

Did you stop to consider that there may not be enough home grown expertise to delve into the depths of "Roget's Thesaurus" - I would even venture to say you may have put the hub amongst the books - and right this very minute someone somewhere is looking up the TM reference on Mr Roget Thesaurus to ensure he is not on overstay & also checking to see if this individual whose name has been so brazenly broadcast on TV has a WP in regards to providing alternatives for the ever so popular vagaries of the PM and his boys.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Plus]

The domestic auto market is too small to invest, except for pickups, luxury market practically non-existent and the quality is not good enough for export, and there's no need to build mainstream cars for export either - they can build in China or anywhere else close to the markets.

Tax bottlenecks - the gov. designed them so as to milk as much money from the middle class, not to expand the market.

Even pickups - there's a ceiling on how many trucks can actually be sold in the world - it's a niche market. After that there's no room for growth.

[opothai]

has thailand actually become the hub of any thing

apart from corruption, mistrust, and now bullsh+t

not the general populace, only the people with power that can not be held accountable.

oh thier's another one hub of non accountability

[Guest endure]

has thailand actually become the hub of any thing

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's become the hub of hubs. There are more hubs in Thailand than anywhere else in the world

[george]

Thailand poised to become worldwide hub for auto manufacturing

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is expected to become the world's leading manufacturer of sedans in the future, since this country is already the world's leader in pick-up trucks.

Delivering a keynote speech during the opening ceremony for the 22nd Thailand International Motor Expo 2005 in Bangkok automobile exhibition, Deputy Commerce Minister Preecha Laohapongchana said Thailand planned to produce two million sedans annually in the next five years.

Of that total, one million sedans will go for the domestic market and the rest for export.

Thailand currently ranks 14th on the list of the world's automobile manufacturers, given a yearly production of over one million sedans.

Of that volume, 550,000 units are for domestic sale and 450,000 others for export.

In the meantime, Mr Preecha said the Government will promote technological advances and skills development for personnel employed in the auto industry and support related businesses such as the making of spare parts, electronic devices and tires.

Without added investment in education and specialised training, Thailand will not be able to succeed to achieving the goal of world automotive leadership.

New auto test facilities will also be provided.

--TNA 2005-11-30

[OlRedEyes]

I suggest Thailand become the nucleus of moonbuggy production.

[zzap]

Thailand poised to become worldwide hub for auto manufacturing

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is expected to become the world's leading manufacturer of sedans in the future, since this country is already the world's leader in pick-up trucks.

--TNA 2005-11-30

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quiz: Tell me the name of one prominent Thai auto-manufacturer!

Without added investment in education and specialised training, Thailand will not be able to succeed to achieving the goal of world automotive leadership.

Oh, really? They couldn't pull it off without the German and Japanese firms providing extensive in-house training??? Better poach their employees... Then, impose new visa and investment regulations to get rid of the foreign 'original' brands.

ThaiMW and NIsaan...

New auto test facilities will also be provided.

I thought advanced test facilities in form of randomly generated moving obstacles crossing the street or moving towards you in the wrong lane were an integral part of Thai-highways and country roads already?

[Dradam]

I think Thailand needs a "hub cap". A limit to the number of hubs. With Thailand becoming the center of the world's economy, its leaders must be careful that it doesn't expand to rapidly.

Isn't Thailand going to annex China soon and rename itself Tai Chi?

Or was it going to be Chitland?