BANGKOK, 16 September 2014 – The Ministry of Commerce has promised to mark the issues of cost of living, the management of rice stock, exports and border trade as matters to be addressed urgently.
Commerce Minister Sommai Phasi on Monday briefed ministry officials on his policy, which places emphasis on the country’s economic foundation. The public must have access to precise information about the state’s policy, he stressed. Each department under the ministry has also been assigned to establish a plan of operation and to clearly set the time frame for each affair.
The commerce minister also told ministry officials he will work to push this year’s economic expansion to two percent.
Deputy Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikanlaya also briefed Commerce officials of his policy, which involved synergy of work and lending support to the government’s various policies. He also marked several issues as needing to be urgently tackled. These included the management of the existing 15-18 million tons of rice within the government’s stockpile, the oversight on cost of living, exports and the augmentation of Thai entrepreneurs’ capacity to compete. On the issue of cost of living, the deputy minister disclosed that sellers may be asked to keep item prices unchanged for a period. On the issue of exports, greater emphasis will be placed on border trade and more benefits will be sought from free trade agreements.
