Asia-Pacific becomes increasingly significant for world economy

BANGKOK, July 4 (TNA) - Thailand's branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), or ICBC (Thai) Bank, has acknowledged that the Asian-Pacific region will become increasingly significant for the world economy in the coming years. ICBC (Thai) Bank Chairman Dr. Zhigang Li voiced the assessment in Bangkok on July 3 at a mid-year 2019 seminar on credit ratings and investment in Asia and the Pacific, organized by Fitch Ratings (Thailand) Limited (Fitch Thailand), a subsidiary of UK-based Fitch Ratings Limited (Fitch), which is a world leading credit rating firm. Dr. Li pointed out that the Asian-Pacific region, in which more than 60 per cent of the total world population live, now has its combined gross domestic product (GDP) size of about 40 per cent of the world's total GDP value. Dr. Li stated that the Asian-Pacific region's GDP has expanded by 5.5 per cent year-on-year on average over the past five years, which is higher than the yearly global GDP growth on average during the same period. Dr. Li said he, thus, believed that the Asian-Pacific region would become increasingly significant for the world economy in the coming years. Implying the immense Chinese economy's contribution to the growing Asian-Pacific region, the ICBC (Thai) Bank chairman revealed that Beijing has connected domestic infrastructure systems with those of other countries in the region through its "One Belt, One Road" initiative to promote expanding inter-country trade and investment and to upgrade the quality of life of people in the region. Meanwhile, Fitch Thailand projected that China's investment funds in the Thai economy, especially in new mega-infrastructure development projects, should be on the rise over the next decade. Based on Fitch Thailand statistics, two-way trade between the Chinese and the Thai economies has accounted for about 16 per cent of the Thai Kingdom's total international trade value and Thailand has earned about 30 per cent, out of its total domestic tourism revenue, from Chinese visitors alone. (TNA)