Industry Minister remains optimistic about continued Baht appreciation

BANGKOK, 26 March 2010 (NNT) – Industry Minister, Chanchai Chairungruang remained optimistic over the continued Baht appreciation while urging exporters to lower their costs of production to increase productivity.

Mr Chanchai stated that the Baht appreciation was under good control and was not a concern as it still has no negative impact on Thailand’s export. He advised Thai exporters to reduce spending and emphasize low cost production in order to have efficient production and to ensure that their businesses will not be affected by the Baht appreciation. Further, he suggested Thai entrepreneurs to grab this opportunity for business expansion abroad.

Mr Chanchai also said that lower interest rate measures had already been implemented to help private sectors alleviate their financial burden.

Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the Board of Investment (BOI), Dr Atchaka Sribunruang- Brimble viewed that this would obviously be a good time for Thai investors to make their investments in neighboring countries. She predicted that the baht value will begin to normalize by the time investors gain profits.