BANGKOK, 13 June 2012 – The private sector has expressed confidence that the construction of floodwalls around industrial estates will prevent a repeat of last year’s catastrophe.
President of the Electronics and Computer Employers Association (ECEA) Sampan Silpanart said that the project to construct floodwalls around industrial estates is taking a clearer shape. Meanwhile, some industrial estates have begun building two layers of floodwalls in hopes of keeping their factories safe from floodwater.
However, he is still concerned that the sector’s production might be impacted if the inundation reoccurs and employees’ homes are submerged under floodwater, given the electronics and computer sector requires a large number of manual workforce to keep the production line going.
Meanwhile, he stated that the acquisition of accurate information on the water situation during an emergency is quite a challenging task. Thus, he urges the government to give advance warning as soon as it receives any news of anomalies in order to reduce the severity of the damage on the sector.
Mr. Sampan also pointed out that the electronics and computer sector has now recovered 60-70% of its total production capacity. Some companies are still in the process of recovery while others are modifying their factories to prevent risks from flood. It is expected that the sector will regain full recovery towards the end of the year.
The president added that electronic parts prices during the past few months have been on an upward trend as demand outstrips supply. However, the price is expected to go down in line with the world market’s price.
