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Thailand: Somkid optimistic about Q2
The economy is expected to maintain its momentum in the second quarter, with Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak expressing confidence that the second quarter’s economic performance is unlikely to be lower than the 3.3% recorded in the first quarter.
Growing exports will be instrumental to the country’s growth in the second quarter, Mr Somkid said yesterday at Thailand Industry Expo 2017, which was organised by the Industry Ministry under the theme “One Transformation, Thousand Opportunities”.
“The growing export sector and tourism will play key roles this year in driving economic growth this year to 3.5-3.8% as targeted,” he said.
The Commerce Ministry reported last week that exports surged 11.7% year-on-year in June despite the firmer baht, supported by strong orders from traditional markets.
The double-digit growth in June after a 13.2% leap in May signalled a brighter outlook for the second half, boosting the government’s confidence in the full-year target of 5% growth in export value.
In the first six months of the year, exports rose by 7.8% from the same period last year to UScopy14 billion (3.82 trillion baht) as imports gained 15% to reach copy07 billion.
In May this year, Porametee Vimolsiri, the secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board predicted the country’s economic growth in the second quarter is unlikely to be as high because of a relatively high base in the same period last year of 3.6%. Nonetheless, the deputy premier said Thailand’s economy can no longer rely heavily on the existing export structure, under which key contributors to exports are about 70 large companies, 50 of which are operated by foreign firms.
“The public and Thai private sector thus needs to join hands forward the existing industry structure to Thailand 4.0, which focuses on added values, high technology and innovation, and these transformation and reform plans should be sped up ahead of the general election,” he said.
“Large companies need to restructure themselves to create more industrial clusters and support startup growth, while the government has pledged to assist startups as well.”
According to Mr Somkid, next week the cabinet is expected to consider and approve new packages to help support SMEs, while the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation will be required to speed up loan guarantees for SMEs to allow them access to financing from banks, after it was found that only 17% of the 100 billion baht in credit guarantees has been granted.
Mr Somkid yesterday told the Industry Ministry to help promote and upgrade service industries, particularly small-scale operators in the tourism industry, and speed up the development of bioeconomy.
Industry Minister Uttama Savanayana said the ministry will present the bioeconomy development package to the cabinet over the next few weeks.
Mr Uttama said the government may need to establish special economic zones for bioeconomy development.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1294699/somkid-optimistic-about-q2