Higher wage cost to hit exports
The export value of Thai lifestyle products, mainly gifts and home-decoration items, now is forecast to grow by only 6-8 per cent this year, down by half from the earlier estimate of 12-15 per cent, because of the impact from the rise in the minimum daily
Jirabul Vitayasingh, secretary-general of the Lifestyle Products Association, said exports of lifestyle products would be less than previously expected because of higher production costs.
The association had earlier projected that export value would reach Bt100 billion this year, but the increase in the cost of production has forced it to lower its target to between Bt95 billion and Bt97 billion.
"Exports will be lower than expected as enterprises have to increase their retail prices. Some importers have suspended their orders from Thailand and instead turned to other countries," he said.
Jirabul said that as most of the exporters are small and medium-sized enterprises, they were facing difficulty in adjusting to the higher cost of labour, which accounts for more than 15 per cent of total production cost.
He also said that because of the higher labour cost, a hundred SMEs have admitted that they will need to close down this year.
To solve the problem, Jirabul urged the government to provide urgent assistance to the SMEs so that they can cope with the higher labour cost.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry yesterday insisted that Thai exports would achieve the 15-per-cent growth target of US$263 billion (Bt8.1 trillion) this year.
To promote exports of home |decorative items and gifts, the Bangkok International Gift and Bangkok International Houseware (BIG & BIH) fair is being held at Bitec in Bang Na. The event, which opened yesterday, will run until April 22 Sunday.
The event features products from 600 companies and exhibits selected design works. The International Trade Promotion Department expects more than 100,000 visitors and immediate sales of Bt1 billion during the five-day fair.
