Thai auto industry ready to cater AEC

BANGKOK, March 13 (TNA) - The Ministry of Industry says Thailand's automobile industry is strong enough to serve the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), set to be formed by the end of this year. Industry Minister Chakramon Phasukvanich spoke of the sound prospect of the Thai auto industry on Friday, when he gave a welcome speech on the 110th anniversary of business operations in Thailand by Mercedes-Benz and the launching of its C300 Blue TEC Hybrid in the Thai economy, where the German auto manufacturer has invested 650 million baht for the production assembly of the latest innovative car. Chakramon noted that Thailand remains a leader of the auto industry in the region with domestic auto production projected at 2.15–2.2 million units this year, thanks to the recovering national economy, seen by the expanding local construction sector and rising imports of machines by 20-30 per cent over the past two months, which should help boost domestic production in the first half of this year. Touching on US-based General Motors's decision late last month on withdrawing its participation in Thailand’s eco-car phase 2 programme, the Thai industry minister insisted that it would not affect the workforce of the Thai auto industry, where there is still a shortage of workers. The minister pointed out that nine eco-car manufacturers in Thailand still need a lot of workers, while Bangkok has cooperated with Tokyo on providing development training for personnel in the auto industry. (TNA)