Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday expressed his confidence in domestic economy and the need for the kingdom to diversify economy and attract fresh investments for sustainable growth.
Addressing at the launching ceremony of The Report: Thailand 2009 by Oxford Business Group (OBG) and Thai Board of Investment (BOI), Abhisit said, "We do look forward to the Thai economy turning around and hope that there will be positive growth in the last quarter of this year, followed by growth firmly back next year, both for Thailand and the region."
Meanwhile, Thai Minister of Industry Chanchai Chairungruang told Xinhua, as Abhisit on June 27 just finished his four-day visit to China, "there will be a total of more than 1,000 Chinese investors coming to Thailand, and the first group, over 300 people, will arrive on July 27-28 to attend an investment seminar in Bangkok...We are more successful than we earlier expected."
He said that the first five to six months in 2009 has seen private investment projects in Thailand worth of 480 billion - 490billion baht (14.08 billion-14.38 billion U.S. dollars) applying for the BOI privileges.
He predicted if the country's political situation is stable for the remaining months of the year, the value of the investment projects applied for the BOI privileges in 2009 will reach 700 billion baht (20.54 billion U.S. dollars).
The report was published at Government House to provide sector-by-sector guide to traders and investors. According to OBG, a global publishing, research and consultancy firm, this is the most comprehensive report on the country's investment and business opportunities ever published.
Starting in September 2008, OBG staff interviewed hundreds of political, economic and business figures on their view of Thai economy, among them Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Secretary-General of UN Conference on Trade and Development and former Director-General of WTO Supachai Panitchpakdi, and former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Abhisit said the report conveyed a key message, that is, as global and regional economies recover, Thailand will once again stand to gain market share in sectors such as manufacturing of high value-added goods, agribusiness, transport and tourism.
The prime minister also highlighted the necessity of diversifying Thai economy and attracting new investments "in order to unleash our economic potentials and ensure a sustainable growth rate in the future."