Govt, private sector to meet on export drive
THE Commerce Ministry will soon meet with business groups to brainstorm for strategies on driving exports, which have been hit hard by the global economic downturn.
The meeting is scheduled for April 21. It will be attended by representatives of the ministries of Industry and Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Board of Trade of Thailand and Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai National Shippers Council, the Board of Investment of Thailand, and various trade associations.
Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya said his ministry was gathering information from around the world to estimate the trade situation and consider whether to revise the export target for this year.
For now, the ministry has maintained its export-growth projection at 4 per cent for this year, even though shipments declined by 4.82 per cent in the first two months. Other agencies have cut their export-growth forecasts to only 0-1 per cent.
“The government will strengthen ties with private enterprises in seeking new strategies to promote export growth. Exporters in some sectors may need to adjust their strategies and plans to focus on new potential markets,” Chatchai said.
The government will focus largely on promoting export of agricultural products as global trade in the industrial sector has declined.
Negative factors that have influenced the export sector are the slow recovery of the global economy and low demand for goods in many countries, falling oil prices, lower market prices of agricultural crops, and fluctuating currencies.
However, some opportunities remain, Chatchai said, mainly for agricultural products and foods. He said India’s Future Group of retail outlets had recently agreed to order various kinds of Thai fruits for its supermarkets.
Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey have also placed more orders for Thai fruits and other agricultural products this year.
