Thai exporters urged to watch out for European economic crisis

BANGKOK, 12 July 2010 (NNT) – The Ministry of Commerce has warned Thai exporters to Europe to be on alert of the current situation in the European market amidst the looming economic crisis in the region.

Ms Srirat Rastapana, Director-General of the Department of Export Promotion (DEP) under the supervision of the Ministry of Commerce, noted that the Euro depreciation caused by the economic crisis had begun to drag the region’s purchasing power down. As a result, she said Thai exporters had turned to use the US Dollar currency instead of the Euro and were now focusing more on penetrating the medium-end market to avoid bargaining.

The DEP Director-General thus encouraged Thai exporters to closely monitor their trade with Europe, which was still considered one of the most vital export markets for Thailand and was responsible for 11% of the total export value of the Kingdom. She added that the Commerce Ministry had set a target to expand exports to the region by 10% in the near future.

In the meantime, the Ministry has also revised the overall export target for 2010 up to 18% while the search for new markets is underway.