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Government promises 600 billion baht support for eastern industries
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Good news for the eastern industrial sector as the government
announced a budget of 600 billion baht to build infrastructure support for
industries here.
Industry Minister Chanchai Chairungruang has prepared a budget for an
industrial support development plan to expand investment in the east.
 Industry
Minister Chanchai Chairungruang chairs the opening of the “BOI Investment
Seminar Program” at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Pattaya.
On March 30, the minister chaired the opening of the “BOI Investment Seminar
Program” at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Pattaya.
He said that he fully supports economic development for industry in the
eastern region, pointing out the region’s geographic advantage for
transportation by sea, air and land.
The region is the center of Thailand’s automotive industry and the
production of spare parts. The area has attracted much investment and
investor confidence.
The industrial estate of Maptaput in Rayong Province has contributed to
Thailand’s economic stability by receiving investment in more than 2,000
projects in the last five years to the value of 1.4 trillion baht. The
region has attracted the highest level of investment in the country for the
car industry, he said.
The growth of eastern industrial production also resulted in the government
pouring in additional funds this year to increase the capacity of existing
infrastructure support.
There is a policy to upgrade the waste disposal capacity of all local
municipalities which must have systems to deal with industrial waste.
Municipalities will be encouraged to attract investment from the private
sector which will spearhead development with the government providing
additional support to achieve the main objectives of “developing people,
work, and money” to be achieved with the help of technology.
Sustaining industrial development requires ensuring that industry “remains
friendly with the community and the environment so that everyone will live
together in peace,” the minister said.
This requires an agreement between industry and community to control air
pollution and limit the effects of wastewater. The joint industrial project
will have cooperation from the Provincial Industry Office to inspect
factories so that they adhere to required standards.
To implement the government’s development plan, the ministry is already
working with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, the
National Environmental Commission and local communities.
New regulations are being accelerated for environmental control over new
projects. This will be completed within three months.
Hoteliers say Thailand lost
Bt200bn in tourism earnings
Saturday’s abrupt cancellation of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and last year’s airport closures will cut
Thai tourism earnings by at least Bt200 billion, Kongkit Hiranyakij, president
of the Tourism Council of Thailand said Saturday.
Kongkit said the losses from the anti-government protesters from the United
Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) storming into the Pattaya hotel
conference venue where the summit was being held is no less than losses from the
closure of airports by UDD’s rival Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in
November and December.
Shortly after UDD protesters swept into the hotel, Prime Minister Abhisit
Vejjajiva announced the cancellation of the summit and the imposition of a state
of emergency in Pattaya and the nearby provincial seat of Chonburi. The
announcement was telecast live.
Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the ASEAN meeting has been
postponed indefinitely.
Foreign tourists will not have confidence to travel to Thailand now after
several government leaders attending the summit were unable to leave their
hotels, Kongkit lamented.
Thai Hotels Association President Prakit Chinamornpong said it is now useless to
hold overseas road shows because no tourists will want to visit Thailand due to
the lack of security.
Echoing a similar view was Apichart Sangaree, president of the Association of
Thai Travel Agents. He said what the protesters did on Saturday had damaged the
country a lot while security measures were absolutely useless and no one would
want to organize major conferences in Thailand in future.
“The low season is expected to hit Thailand throughout this year,” complained
Apichart.
Meanwhile, Thanawat Palavichai, director of the University of the Thai Chamber
of Commerce (UTCC) Economic and Business Forecasting Center said that the Thai
economy will likely shrink 4-5 percent this year after the protesters stormed
the summit venue. (TNA)
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