BANGKOK, 31 July 2013 – Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt has pointed out that Thailand’s basic infrastructure is lagging behind Malaysia’s and Singapore’s, while reiterating that the 2-trillion-baht project is essential to the country’s development.
According to the transport minister, the 2-trillion-baht infrastructure project has to be implemented as soon as possible before Thailand loses its opportunity and competitiveness to become the ASEAN logistics hub. He added that the country’s infrastructure steadily has been going downhill and is now ranked 49 in the world and third in the ASEAN region; behind Malaysia and Singapore. If Thailand wants to be the ASEAN hub for logistics, the project cannot be delayed any further.
In addition, he said Thailand has seen quite a drop in its foreign direct investment (FDI) in the past 10 years. It is now ranked number 4 in this region, behind Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, compared to its number two ranking just a few years back. Thailand has seen only a 5-percent increase in its FDI in the past decade, whereas other countries’ have expanded by 11-23 percent.
