Thai Economy On Slow Track

[Lite Beer]

Economy on slow track

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation on Sunday

Thai Chamber of Commerce sees tough recovery ahead; calls for clear-cut govt plans to revive confidence

The Thai Chamber of Commerce has predicted economic growth of only 3-5 per cent next year, lower than the government's estimate of 5-7 per cent, due to difficult circumstances for recovery after the severe recent inundation and high concerns over the global economic slowdown.

During the chamber's three-day 29th annual meeting in Rayong, scheduled to end today, businesses expressed great concern at the government's implementation of medium- and long-term plans for post-flood recovery.

They said the Thai economy will not be on a rosy path as expected and recovery will take a long time for both the public and private sectors, in particular manufacturing and small and medium-sized enterprises, which are major components to drive the country's economy.

Chamber chairman Phongsak Assakul said that clearcut strategies to boost trade and investment should top the national agenda to boost the economy and resolve social issues next year.

He said the Thai economy is expected to grow only 5 per cent next year.

The chamber's honorary chairman, Pramon Sutivong, said the Thai economy is expected to grow only 3-4 per cent next year as consumer spending will remain weak after this year's floods.

Nandor von der Luehe, vice chairman of the chamber and the chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce, said that rehabilitation will take some time before economic growth returns to normal. He said foreign-investor confidence had been hampered by the floods.

"The flow of information was sometimes contradictory. It is important now that the government directly meets and announces its recovery plan to boost investor confidence."

Von der Luehe said that there would be some relocation by foreign investors in the aftermath of the inundation, while new investment would not be directed towards flood-prone areas. He said the government must urgently prove that it will prevent future flooding.

To ensure growth, the chamber yesterday came up with its recovery plan for businesses and the national economy, including a plan to rebuild the country, continue its anti-corruption campaign and reduction of disparities in income.

The chamber will today propose to the government its plans aimed at ensuring sustainable growth. Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong will represent the government on behalf of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who will not join the chamber's annual meeting this year.

Vice chairman Chatchai Boonyarat said a clear-cut plan to boost the country's growth after the flooding and a plan for the future to prevent national disasters are topmost priorities for the government.

Investment and trading have been severely impacted by the floods this year. All involved sectors must cooperate closely to boost growth, in particular restoring investors' and traders' confidence to do business with the country. Since the manufacturing sector and related supply chains were hit hard by the floods, the chamber expects Thailand's economy and exports to see slow growth until the first quarter of next year, before recovering in the second quarter.

Thai exports are expected to grow by 5-10 per cent next year from this year's expected 15-20 per cent expansion. To ensure export growth, the chamber chairman pointed out that the government must focus on small and medium-sized enterprises as they have low financial liquidity.

Other negative factors affecting exports and the country's growth next year include the slowdown in the global economy, the euro-zone debt crunch and flat growth in the US.

The chamber vowed to crank up its anti-corruption mission. It has set up a watchdog to closely monitor government spending of Bt800 billion for flood recovery to ensure efficiency, transparency and worthiness of the country's budget.

Other missions of the chamber are to create awareness among companies of the Asean Economic Community in 2015, the national strategy development agenda for nine sectors, and the plan to strengthen growth of provincial chambers.

-- The Nation 2011-12-11

[JeremyBowskill]

love the picture not A red tie between em!! lol

[dduval99]

Ow whats that Thai economy on slow track...and the sterling falls to 45 and Dollar to 29...mmmm something not right here.

[givenall]

Well some one should tell the Chamber of Commerce that don’t count on the PM and his government to help the economy. Their first priority is to bring back Mr. T and the rest not important

Edited December 11, 2011 by Scott
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[Pib]

Don't worry...the govt will establish a committee to look into the slow growth issue.

[janverbeem]

Don't worry...the govt will establish a committee to look into the slow growth issue.

Which will discover that the economy is actually growing at its fastest pace in a decade

[elgato]

Hogwash! Who writes this stuff?