FTI:Thailand remains as ASEAN industrial leader

BANGKOK, November 5 (TNA) - The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) says Thailand can maintain the country's status as the biggest production base in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), boosted by new investment projects in expanded national infrastructure development and those in special economic zones along the border. FTI Chairman Suphan Mongkolsuthee made the assessment at a discussion on Thai industries in ASEAN, held in Bangkok on Wednesday. Suphan foresaw that Thailand's status as the industrial production leader in ASEAN should particularly be in electronic and electrical appliances, as well as automobile and food production, as the Kingdom is a world major exporter of the products, worth over 900 billion baht annually. The FTI chief urged Thai business operators, however, to further upgrade their production technologies to cut production costs, emphasize research and development (R&D) and patent their inventions. The FTI chief also suggested that local garment and textile industries relocate to special economic zones along the border to benefit from cheaper workers from neighboring countries. The National Federation of Thai Textile Industries report that the value of Thai garment and textile exports have been ranked the world's 13th biggest, amounting to 240 billion baht last year alone. Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has resolved to maintain its key interest rate at 2 per cent annually to support the national economic growth. The decision was made at Wednesday's meeting of the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). (TNA)