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The economy will grow by 4 per cent this quarter compared with the fourth quarter last year, said Krisada Chinavicharana, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office. 

If that quarterly growth is realised, full-year growth will reach 1.4 per cent, as previously estimated by the office. This is despite only 0.6 per cent GDP growth posted in the third quarter.

He said export figures had improved more than expected. The tourism sector in October showed growth for the first time in 10 months. Only the distribution of Bt1,000-per-rai assistance money to farmers was below the target. The distribution of such money to farmers was only Bt8 billion to Bt9 billion by the end of November, below the Bt20 billion targeted by the Finance Ministry.

“The economic stimulus measures launched by the government have played a crucial role in pushing the economy forward. They include both the money being injected into the system and the psychological impact from such measures,” Krisada said. 

Despite the delay in the distribution of assistance money to the farmers, the ministry is quite confident they will be able to distribute up to Bt20 billion by the end of December, he added.

 

Ministry to launch centre for Thai online stores 

The Commerce Ministry has set up a website for Thai online stores – www.ThaiCommerceStore.com – to serve as a centre for distribution of products from communities via the Internet. It aims to tap the rapidly growing e-commerce market, which has a projected value of Bt700 billion this year, to prepare for the Asean Economic Community in late 2015 and to boost Thailand’s competitiveness. 

Selling merchandise online can help reduce operating costs and create revenue for communities. E-commerce offers convenience to both sellers and buyers on a 24-hour daily basis. 

The target group of customers will be for merchandise from the Support Arts and Crafts International Centre of Thailand (Public Organisation) and Otop (One Tambon, One Product) and organic, halal, GI (Geographical Indication), and Fair Trade products. 

The Commerce Ministry aims to support the government’s policy to adopt information technology to help develop and expand e-commerce in the digital age. About 39 per cent, or 2.8 billion of the world’s population, and 45.1 per cent, or 1.2 billion people in Asia are connected to the Internet, according to Nielsen online data. 

In the past decade, the Internet has grown by leaps and bounds, at 1,000 per cent. Moreover, 30 per cent of Internet users rely on e-commerce as their channel for buying or selling merchandise via smartphones and 46.9 per cent use computers.  

The Commerce Ministry is working with the private sector to launch an online Thai Commerce Shop on the newly created central e-Market, as well as online stores for large corporations.