Industry ministry first to report 1st-year progress

INDUSTRY MINISTRY
Minister Pongsvas Svasti outlined seven priorities for his second year, including the further enhancement of existing policies.
Among them is the promotion of value-added food and food production standards from downstream to upstream with a budget of Bt500 million for fiscal 2013.
The ministry will continue to support the Bangkok Fashion City policy, the raising of production standards, the investment promotion scheme and the One Tambon One Product project. It will encourage industry to invest overseas.
Industrial companies were severely hit by the flood last year and the ministry launched many measures to alleviate their problems |and them help recover, but he declined to give himself a score for his performance.
The ministry has implemented the government’s policy to prepare small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.
Despite the inundation last year, the Board of Investment has received applications for investment privileges for projects worth Bt805 billion during the first 10 months of fiscal 2012. That was up sharply from Bt602 billion over the same period last fiscal year. Investment in the next fiscal year is expected to be even higher, Pongsvas said.

TRANSPORT MINISTRY
Deputy Minister Chatchart Sithipan said the ministry aimed to complete the tendering for all 10 mass-transit routes within two years. The construction contract for the Bearing-Samut Prakan extension to the Skytrain’s Sukhumvit Line has already been signed.
It will also soon submit for Cabinet consideration the plan to procure 3,183 natural-gas-powered buses worth Bt13 billion. It will accelerate the development of the Pak Bara deep-sea port project.

COMMERCE MINISTRY
Permanent Secretary Yanyong Phuangrach said the ministry played a key role in implementing the government’s price-pledging policy for both rice and cassava. The scheme has shored up prices of the two crops and directly boosted farmers’ income, he said.
Under the programme, the paddy price rose by an average of Bt2,325 to Bt3,750 per tonne while rice rose by Bt370-Bt880 per 100-kilogram sack.
To help consumers survive the rising cost of living, the “Blue Flag” and “Took Jai Shop” campaigns were launched, offering cheaper consumer goods and food. The ministry had to spend Bt1.32 billion to support the projects, Yanyong said. There are now 10,261 Took Jai Shops, surpassing the target of 10,000 outlets.
Despite the drop in exports in the first half of this year, the ministry is still focusing on promoting trade and building understanding among exporters of the business opportunities opening up from the single market under the AEC.
It also plans to increase border trade to Bt1 trillion this year.

AGRICULTURE AND COOPERATIVES
The ministry says it will continue working on water-management integration and irrigation-area expansion.
The Cabinet has approved the establishment of the Royal Rain Making and Agricultural Aviation Department, which aims to facilitate efficient water management to prevent not only floods but also droughts and other natural events. It will also develop an early-warning system.

ENERGY MINISTRY
When the ministry delivers its performance statement next Thursday, it will highlight the government’s approval of the third amendment to the power development plan to meet electricity demand in the next 20 years with the focus on boosting the share of alternative energy to 25 per cent in 10 years.
It will also showcase the 20-year energy conservation plan.