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Thai exports jump nearly 20% in first quarter
Thai exports in the first quarter of this year reached
US$22.4 billion, up 19.1% from the same period of last year, according to
the Ministry of Commerce.
Deputy Commerce Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal revealed
that the country’s exports in March alone rose to US$7.96 billion,
representing the unprecedented 20% increase of the kingdom’s monthly
export figures, and putting total exports for the first quarter as a whole
at the high US$22.4 billion level.
However, Thailand experienced a trade deficit of US$264.8
million in March, as the country’s imports reached US$8.225 billion, up a
massive 34.7%, pushing the import growth rate for the first quarter as a
whole to 25.8%.
The kingdom’s external trade status remained in the
black in the first quarter- to the tune of US$505 million - compared with
the first quarter of 2003.
Pongsak described the trade deficit in March as a
temporary blip caused by heavy imports of raw materials by the industrial
sector, with purchase of new machinery and raw materials from abroad to
respond to rising export demand. He forecast that the export growth rate
would continue to rise in the second trimester, enabling Thailand to
comfortably meet the Ministry of Commerce’s 2004 export growth target of
15% on the back of trade worth US$92 billion. This would ensure that
Thailand would maintain a trade surplus of no less than US$5 billion for the
year as a whole, he noted.
Several items were recorded, particularly impressive
export growth rates over the first quarter, including rice (39%), cassava
(37.6%), and rubber (16.1%), while the industrial sector was buoyed by the
export growth of electronic goods, automobiles, fabrics, plastics,
construction materials, leather goods, rubber goods, furniture, cosmetics,
pharmaceutical products and printed materials.
During the period, Thailand also successfully pushed its
goods onto a number of foreign markets, with exports to India up 67.6%,
exports to China up 24.5%, exports to Hong Kong up 17.1%, exports to the
Middle East up 32.9%, and exports to Australia up 24.9%.
Ponsak expressed confidence that cooperation between the
Ministry of Commerce cooperation and the private sector would push up the
export growth rate to the new markets to 40% in the near future.
Exports to core markets, meanwhile, rose by a combined
total of 63.4%, with exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) up 34.7%, to the US up 15.5%, to the EU up 14.8%, and to Japan up
14%. (TNA)
Rising demand for Thai sportswear and equipment at US naval base in Japan
Demand for Thai sportswear and equipment at a US naval
base in Okinawa, Japan is on the rise, as Thai manufacturers and exporters
of sportswear and equipment are invited to send details of their products to
the US naval based, whose team of executives will pay a visit to Thailand in
mid May.
A report of the Office of Thai Trade Promotion in
Fukuoka, which was released recently, said that the US naval force in
Okinawa had purchased a large number of Thai products from stores at the
naval base, and from the military welfare office in the US city of Denver
following a recent visit to the US Naval Based in Okinawa by a high-level
delegation of the Office of Thai Trade Promotion.
During the visit, the Thai delegation also met top
executives of the US Naval Base in Okinawa, including assistance chief of
staff and chief executive officer of the US Marines Corps Community Services
Okinawa (MMCS) at the MCB Camp S.D. Butler.
Thai manufacturers and exporters of sportswear and
equipment who are interested in expanding their market to the US Okinawa
Naval Base are invited to send details, as well as samples and digital
pictures of their products to the Office of Thai Trade Promotion in Fukuoka,
at Fax. No. 3-751-6522, or email [email protected] before 10 May,
according to the report. The MMCS executives are scheduled to visit Thailand
on 12-15 May.
The Office of Thai Trade Promotion in Fukuoka also said
the demand for Thai herbal and cosmetic products in Fukuoka was increasing,
thanks to business seminars having been organized to promote the Thai
products. (TNA)
Government pushes for employment generation in troubled south
Despite the violence going on in Thailand’s southern
provinces, Deputy Prime Minister Suchat Jaovisidha is predicting that the
situation will soon return to normal. The deputy prime minister said that
the next task facing the government would be the institution of schemes to
generate employment and boost income for southern residents. Already, he
added, the government had launched a number of employment generation
schemes.
Suchat also noted that initial assessments suggested that
the violence in the south was having little impact on the region’s
economic growth, making it unlikely that the violence would have any serious
repercussions on the national economic system. (TNA)
Thailand and Pakistan sign bilateral pacts
The Thai and Pakistani governments recently signed three
bilateral agreements in Bangkok aimed at enhancing and strengthening ties
and cooperation between the two countries. The agreements include a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in science and technology,
an MOU on efforts to combat terrorism and crimes, and a cooperative pledge
between the foreign ministries of the two nations. The three agreements were
signed during Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s visit
to Thailand, on 28-30 April.
Before the deals were signed, Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra and his Pakistani counterpart held bilateral talks at Government
House, in which the two leaders agreed to boost bilateral trade, and to set
up a joint economic committee to protect investors of the two countries. The
two leaders also discussed further cooperation within the Asian Cooperation
Dialogue (ACD), and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) frameworks. (TNA)
BOT raises economic growth estimate
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has raised its economic growth
estimate for this year to 6.8-7.8% thanks to higher product prices in the
world market and the economic expansion of trading partners. Atchana
Waiquamdee, BOT’s assistant governor in charge of Monetary Policy Group,
said the Monetary Policy Committee revised the estimate upward from 6.3-7.3%
projected three months ago and forecast the economy would grow 6.3-7.8% next
year.
She said it remained difficult to estimate how the spate of
violence in the South would affect the country’s economic growth because
information gained was still insufficient. As well, the impact from the rising
oil prices could not yet be determined since the government continued to cap
local prices of retail fuel.
She added that unless the government made any change on the
capped prices, it was expected the basic inflation rate would average 0-1%
this year and 1-2% next year as the general inflation rate would stand at
1.5-2.5% and 1-2%.
Atchana said, “The country’s export value is likely to
reach US$87.5-89.5 billion this year and increase up to US$91.5-93.5 billion
next year against US$83-85 billion and $89-91 billion estimated earlier. The
import value is expected to rise to US$86.5-88.5 billion this year and
US$92.5-94.5 billion next year.”
She said the economy grew 6.7% last year with the fourth
quarter seeing the expansion of 7.8%, boosted by a continued increase in
private spending and exports and the economic growth remained stable in the
first quarter of this year. However, the consumer and investor confidence has
moderately declined due to the bird flu outbreak and the spate of violence in
the South. (TNA)
Southern violence and rising oil prices won’t affect economy: NESDB
The spate of violence in Thailand’s southern region and
rising fuel prices will not affect the country’s economic expansion unless
the situation drags on, according to the National Economic and Social
Development Board (NESDB).
Chakramon Phasukavanich, NESDB’s Secretary-General, said
the latest violence in the South had a direct impact on the local tourism
since news pictures and coverage on the incident, and made foreign tourists
worried about traveling in the country. However, he believed foreign investors
could better understand the situation, and give preference to the country’s
economic fundamental factors.
The NESDB chief said that rising fuel prices in the world
market would not have any effect on the economic growth if they stood at an
average of US$28.5 per barrel for the whole year. Fuel prices hovered around
$30 per barrel in the first four months of this year, which remained
acceptable. He said the economy was now in the growth cycle, as could be
witnessed by an increase in the capacity utilization rate to exceed 75% and to
90% in some industries such as automobiles. (TNA)
PM pledges to strengthen Thai economy from grass-roots level
On May 1st, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pledged that
his administration would strengthen the Thai economy from the grass-root
level, aimed at fulfilling basic needs and upgrading quality of life of
lower-income people and workers over the next 4-5 years. “The first project
I’ll do for the country’s lower income people and workers, is freeing them
from their debts”, he disclosed. “For workers of state enterprises, please
believe that the government will do its best for you and what also benefits
the country,” he pledged.
Meanwhile, thousands of workers gathered at the King Rama
V’s Royal Plaza to attend religious rites, and to do merit makings to mark
the May Day. They then marched along Rajadamneon Avenue to Sanam Luang
ceremonial ground for a ceremony to mark the May Day, presided over by Deputy
Prime Minister Wan Muhamad Noor Matha.
The Thai workers, who are members of various employees’
organizations also submitted a nine-point demand to the government, including
calls for a 3% minimum wage increase, the establishment of a new body
overseeing and protecting workers’ safety and good health at workplaces, the
adoption of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 87 and 98,
the suspension of privatization plans of state enterprises, and the amendment
of social security laws.
The workers also lodged a six-point demand to the United
States, which included calls for the suspension of the government’s
privatization plans of state enterprises, an increase in minimum wages in all
parts of the countries, the amendment of social security laws concerning
compensation funds, the establishment of a new body to protect and oversee the
safety and good health at workplaces, and the implementation of measures to
free them from debts.
GMS countries sign documents for cross-border transport
Thailand and other five member countries of the Greater
Mekong Sub-region (GMS) signed annexes and protocols to implement the GMS
cross-border transport agreement on May 1. Representatives from Thailand and
another five GMS members signed the documents at the last day of the joint
committee for implementation of the GMS agreement meeting, held in Phnom Penh
on 27-30 April, according to a news report of Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
The GMS agreement was initiated and signed by Thailand,
Laos and Vietnam in 1999. Its annexes and protocols aim to standardize and
upgrade norms on transportation, facilitating travel by means of transport
among GMS member countries.
Thanks to assistance from the Asian Development Bank, GMS
member countries have continued building roads linking nations, contributing
to forming “economic corridors” in the GMS, namely Northern corridor,
East-West corridor and the North-South corridor, which are expected to be
complete in 2007. The GMS members include Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand,
Myanmar, and southern China. (TNA)
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