2013 Cited as a Critical Year for Thailand, with Greater Opportunities for British Private Sector

(14/11/2012)

The year 2013 has been cited as a critical year for Thailand and also as a year of opportunity for British traders and investors. In her statement on 13 November 2012 during her official visit to London, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra touched on the issues of Thailand’s priorities in 2013 and how they open opportunities for the British private sector. The statement was made at the luncheon where she spoke on the topic “2013: The Year of Opportunities in Thailand.” The Prime Minister said that Thailand’s priorities in 2013 would be based on a simple but important theme: Implementing Thailand’s Vision for Continued Stability and Prosperity. The year would be critical as Thailand was seeking to transform its vision to reality: building further political stability and democracy, implementing infrastructure projects, and enhancing rice management capabilities. She explained that, in 2013, the Thai government would start to implement key infrastructure and water management projects that would help make Thailand a transport and logistics hub in the region and create secure regional supply chains. This is in preparation for a more competitive and connected ASEAN Economic Community of over 600 million consumers by 2015, with Thailand as the gateway to the region. On infrastructure development, the Prime Minister said that Thailand would be investing around 42 billion pounds sterling from 2013 to 2019. This includes four high-speed rail lines that will link Thailand with China to the north and northeast, Malaysia and Singapore to the south and Viet Nam to the east. This will not only enhance investment and trade through faster delivery of products but equally important, it will lead to greater distribution of wealth to other areas of Thailand and neighboring countries. Furthermore, she said, Thailand is pursuing the twin strategy of expanding the Laem Chabang deep-sea port and the development of Myanmar’s Dawei deep-sea port. It is planning road and rapid rail links between these two ports, creating efficient land bridge linking the Gulf of Thailand to the Indian Ocean. This would cut transportation time of goods from Bangkok to the Indian port of Chennai in half – from six days through the Straits of Malacca, to three days with Dawei deep-sea port. In addition, Thailand is also investing around 7.3 billion pounds sterling to build a new water management system, under a single command. A transparent international bidding process is currently underway and projects under this system will be implemented from 2013 to 2018. With regard to the financing of these projects, Prime Minister Yingluck said that the Government has the ability to raise funds from both the domestic and external markets. It has also encouraged private sector participation to promote project efficiency and timely implementation. These investments are also expected to translate into real growth over the medium term, which ensures that the debt-to-GDP ratio will be maintained at an acceptable level of no more than 50 percent. She urged British traders and investors to link up with Thai counterparts and promote further trade and investment between the two countries.