Building Economic Confidence in Southern Border Provinces

(02/05/2012)

The Government is stepping up efforts to build economic confidence in the three southern border provinces, namely Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said that the Government is accelerating mega-projects to develop infrastructure as part of an economic stimulus package in the deep South. The statement was made during his visit to Yala on 28 April 2012, when he attended a dinner talk on economic confidence in the three southern border provinces. The event was organized jointly by the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center and the Yala Chamber of Commerce in order to restore confidence of southern investors and business people. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs and officials in Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat took part in the event. Mr. Kittiratt said that the Government has a policy to offer privileges to local residents in the deep South, which has been affected by unrest since 2004. For example, entrepreneurs in the three southern border provinces have enjoyed a special corporate tax rate as an incentive to stimulate investment. He said that mega-projects being pushed by the Government involve the construction of infrastructure linking southern Thailand with Malaysia and other international transportation routes. Since the southern provinces have many agricultural products, he said, the Government must come up with how to export these products to neighboring countries, with low transportation costs. This would help improve the living conditions of local residents, especially farmers. The majority of the local residents in Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat are Muslim and the local economy depends chiefly on the agriculture sector. A target has been set to develop Yala into an agricultural and processed agricultural production center, Pattani into a halal industrial center and an international Islamic study center, and Narathiwat into a transport and logistics center linking with Malaysia’s East Coast Economic Region. Yala borders the Malaysian states of Kedah and Perak, and it is the only land-locked province in southern Thailand. Major cash crops in this province include rubber, oil palm, and fruit, particularly longkong and durian. Apart from being the location of the Halal Industrial Estate, Pattani is also the location of the College of Islamic Studies under Prince of Songkla University, which is the first Muslim higher education institution in Thailand. Narathiwat connects with Kelantan State of Malaysia. Most local residents are engaged in rubber planting, fruit farming, rice cultivation, fishing, and trade. The three southern border provinces form part of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle project, aimed at developing business opportunities in the three ASEAN countries in such areas as tourism, trade, investment, infrastructure, transport, energy, and agriculture. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra paid a visit to Pattani province on April 29, when she gave a briefing on the Government’s policy and guidelines to improve the southern situation. She said that the Government would uphold His Majesty the King’s wise advice to “understand, reach out, and develop” as a strategy for dealing with problems and restoring peace in the southern border provinces. The Prime Minister also stressed the Government’s policy of developing the quality of life of local people, generating income for residents, and developing local education. She stated that government agencies concerned were told to work in an integrated manner for greater efficiency in resolving the southern situation.