BANGKOK, Sept 4 – Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce hopes that Thailand will become the logistics hub of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Deputy Commerce Minister Nattawut Saikua said today after presiding at the opening ceremony of “Thailand International Logistics Fair 2013” at the capital’s BITEC exhibition centre that he believed Thai entrepreneurs could compete with neighbouring countries regarding the readiness of Thailand’s logistics system before the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is initiated in 2015.
He said the government’s Bt2 trillion infrastructure mega project would be a chance for Thai entrepreneurs to do business with the government and thus push the country to become the logistics hub of ASEAN.
According to the deputy minister, Thailand’s logistics costs count for 14 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), a rate which is considered high. Both the public and private sectors are dealing with reducing the cost, which Mr Nattawut believed will be able to do in the future.
At the fair, a seminar on logistics is being offered as well as an exposition on the 2013 logistics entrepreneurs winners. The fair, held from today through Saturday, is expected to attract over 10,000 Thais and foreigners from ASEAN countries along with China, South Korea, and Japan.
