A woman shops at a supermarket in Thailand. (Photo: Shutterstock.com) Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak expected local export to grow 5 percent in 2016 following the global market’s recovery.
At a recent meeting with the International Trade Development Committee, the Deputy PM said export revenue would fall approximately 3 percent to 216 billion USD this year.
In 2016, an upward trend, however, is very likely as major importers – including the US, Asia, Africa and Latin America – have shown signs of recovery and the global economy is forecast to grow some 3.6 percent. The depreciation of the Thai baht will also bring an export stimulus.
The International Trade Development Committee had devised seven export-driving strategies for next year.
The strategies include research into becoming members of new free trade agreements and vetting current ones, prioritising trans-border trade, as well as encouraging technology improvement and local small- and medium-sized enterprises investing in research and development./.