BANGKOK, 28 April 2012 – A top economic guru has urged Thailand to speed up the expansion of trade with the rest of Asia, while expressing confidence that the country will not fall into recession again within the next decade.
Dr. Virabongsa Ramangkura, Chairman of the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development, said that the center of the world economy has shifted from the US and EU to Asian nations, such as China, Japan, South Korea and India.
Taking this into consideration, Virabongsa said that Thailand is to seize the chance to enhance its trade and investment potential, especially as the country holds an advantage of proximity to these nations.
He suggested that Thai entrepreneurs should focus on exporting more to these emerging global economic centers, particularly India, which is a major trading partner of Thailand.
In addition, Virabongsa said that Thailand should start paying more attention to Myanmar, whose reform has increasingly been attracting the world’s interest, due to its abundant resources.
However, he noted that the country is still to solve its trade deficit issue and to elevate and modernize several basic infrastructures.
He is confident that, in 10 years from now, Thailand will never fall back into recession again like when it experienced the 1997 Asian financial crisis, because of its sufficient foreign exchange reserves.
