Govt plans mass meeting with private sector

The conference will be chaired by Commerce Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who is also chairman of the Strategic Formulation Committee for Reconstruction and Future Development.
Key representatives of a number of agencies will join the conference to explain the government’s flood prevention and rehabilitation plans to the private sector. These will include the Strategic Formulation Committee for Water Resources Management, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the ministries of Finance, Commerce, Industry, Agriculture, and Transport.
Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Export Promotion Department, said the minister had ordered the department to help coordinate with the private sector on setting up the conference.
“The meeting will be crucial for the government to increase understanding among private enterprises on its measures to resolve and prevent floods. It will present a clear message on how the government will protect the country from a repeat of this year’s flood disaster,” Nuntawan said.
The meeting is to be set up at Siam Niramit’s facility in Bangkok, as it can accommodate a large number of participants. Enterprises from every industry, particularly from the seven industrial estates that were seriously flooded, will be invited.
In addition, to boost export growth and foreign traders’ confidence to do businesses with Thailand next year, the department plans to conduct several overseas roadshows in target markets. The mission is to promote the fact that Thai companies still have the capacity to produce and export high-quality goods.
Nuntawan said the department would accelerate its efforts to bring foreign traders’ confidence back to normal after it was reported that some importers had begun ordering goods from other countries because of the flooding in Thailand.
She said exports in the first quarter of next year could continue to drop slightly as enterprises have only just resumed their operations after flooding. However, exports should return to normal and enjoy growth in the second quarter.
The department has targeted that exports will increase by 15 per cent to US$258 billion next year, the same estimated rate of expansion as this year, when exports grew to an expected $224 billion (Bt7 trillion).
Matters of concern that could influence Thailand’s international trade next year are the European Union’s debt crisis, fluctuations in the exchange rate, high oil prices, labour shortage, and lower agricultural output.