Industrial confidence index up for the first time in 9 months



BANGKOK: -- Industrial confidence index for the month of September increased for the first time in nine months to 82.8 from August’s 82.4 mainly due to increased overseas purchase orders for goods meant for sale during the last quarter of the year.

Mr Suphan Mongkolsuthee, president of Federation of Thai Industries, said Wednesday that the industrial confidence index for the last quarter was expected to register 102.6, up from 102.0.

Business operators are confident that the government’s stimulus packages to help the SMEs and low income-earners would constitute a positive factor supporting economic expansion in the next stage.

Nevertheless, he said that business operators would like the government sector to accelerate budgetary disbursement on sustainable basis, particularly the disbursement for the projects already approved by the government.

He also urged the government to speed up talks with Thailand’s trading partners to increase market access for Thai products and to reduce trade barriers against Thai products.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/industrial-confidence-index-ups-for-the-first-time-in-9-months

-- Thai PBS 2015-10-14

He also urged the government to speed up talks with Thailand’s trading partners to increase market access for Thai products and to reduce trade barriers against Thai products.

That's a big ask when those countries face insurmountable bureaucracy and prohibitive tariffs when they try to sell their products in Thailand. Most give up, unless they are willing to play the tea money game.

"mainly due to increased overseas purchase orders for goods meant for sale during the last quarter of the year."

Maybe it's a little premature to celebrate a miniscule index increase if those orders don't sell. Something like "don't count your chickens before they hatch."

Previous problems for lower confidence over the last eight months otherwise don't appear to have been improved: "fragile domestic and global economies, declining competitiveness due to lack of improvement in production technology to increased value, falling prices of farm products."