National economy expansion expected to reach 4%

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, 12 February 2010 (NNT) – The Thai economy for 2010 is expected to grow by 3-4% but the domestic political uncertainties and industrial project suspension in Map Ta Phut are expected to cause concern, according to a Thai academic expert.

During a seminar entitled “New Age of State Enterprise and Creative Economy” in Nakhon Ratchasima province on Friday, Analyst of the National Economic and Social Development Board Office (NESDB), Piyanut Wuttisorn said the positive growth of 3-4% this year was a good recovery sign which was beneficial for Thai export.

The expert said the Thai economy had started to recover since the second quarter of 2009 as seen from the increasing employment rate, expanding productions of the national industrial sector, and the higher number of tourist in the kingdom.

Ms Piyanut remarked that the global economic recovery of 2.8-3.2% was the main factor to bring the national economy up. The recovery has positively affected trading partners of Thailand by helping them to have higher purchasing power, resulting in their increasing orders for products from Thailand. She noted that this certainly had helped the national export–one of the vital factors contributing to an economic growth.

Nevertheless, Ms Piyanut said the private sector remained concerned over domestic political problems which might obstruct the country’s economy again amidst a slow recovery.

The other negative factor to the Thai economy was the suspension of projects in Map Ta Phut in the seaside province of Rayong, she said. The expert noted that if the projects were still frozen, investor confidence would be definitely destroyed and then the national economic expansion would be affected. She therefore suggested the government urgently impose clearer laws to control investments in the area in order to restore the confidence.