Japan quake impact limited

BANGKOK, 15 March 2011 (NNT) – The negative impacts of the quake and tsunami attack in Japan to the Thai economy should be limited as there are some positive factors including rising purchase orders from Japan in the long run, according to Kasikorn Research Center(KResearch).

The overall impact on the Thai economy should not be more than 0.1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and there is no need to adjust the national growth projection for the moment, the report said.

Regarding short-term impacts on bilateral trade, export and import between Thailand and Japan will be partially halted temporarily since some Japanese ports and airports have closed down following the recent natural disaster. However, major ports and airports in that country are not affected.

Thai exporters of some products such as auto parts and electronics might experience dropping purchase orders from customers whose factories are located in the disaster-stricken zones. Meanwhile, Thai factories importing parts from Japan should face a delay in goods delivery which will thus affect their production line.

As for a long-term impact, demands for some products from Thailand might increase such as construction materials and machineries.

Some Japanese companies are using Thailand as their manufacturing base, from which the output accounts for 10% of the total Thai exports to Japan.