Cabinet nod for Bt45-bn plan to aid flood victims

Cabinet spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang said the ministers also assigned the three post-flood rehabilitation committees in charge of helping flood-affected people in restoration of infrastructure, economy, and quality of living, as well as the Budget Bureau to examine the projects and the budgets jointly to avoid redundant projects.

Meanwhile, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand vowed strong support to the government’s recent measure of setting up two specific committees, as the move would help raise the confidence of both local and foreign investors. 

The two committees referred to by the chamber and the Board of Trade are the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management and the Strategic Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development.  

 

Joint statement 

In a joint statement released yesterday, the chamber and the Board of Trade expressed their sincere regrets and deep sympathy to all flood victims. 

The massive floods have caused a lot of economic and social damage to people in general as well as to the agricultural and industrial sectors, they noted.

The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking has invited Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong and Dr Virabongsa Ramangkura to participate in its annual meeting with the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), to be held in Japan next Monday, to rebuild the confidence of Japanese investors.

“We would like to express our strong support to the Thai government in its discussions under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as well as other free-trade frameworks to be enhanced in the near future with major economic communities, such as the European Union, Apec, and what we have known as the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific,” the joint statement said. 

“We also would like to thank the government for its reconsideration of the draft Royal Decree for the 2011 royal pardon, which would be a cause of disruption and violence in the country. 

“The standpoint of the Thai Chamber of Commerce is any royal pardon should exclude drug and corruption cases in the Royal Decree,” 

it added.