SOMKID FORESEES STRONG 2-YEAR ECONOMIC GROWTH
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak expects the economy to grow strongly over the next two years if the country’s infrastructure development and enhancement of national competitiveness follows the plans as targeted.
“I believe that within two years if we can push forward our infrastructure projects and policies like the EEC [Eastern Economic Corridor], start-ups, and [making the country a regional] aviation hub, while going ahead with ‘Thailand 4.0’, Thailand will start up instantly ... Investment will be paired in. Then GDP will see a leap,” he said.
In regard to the promotion of electric vehicles, he said a scheme along these lines would be presented to the Board of Investment at its meeting on March 24 before being forwarded to the Cabinet by the end of this month.
Pushing such projects to success requires collaboration from foreign institutions and researchers, he said.
The government will increase the research-and-development budget from 0.62 per cent of gross domestic product in 2015 and 0.75 per cent in 2016 to 1.0 per cent in 2018, he said.
