Thai exports expected to grow 3% or higher in 2019

BANGKOK, May 2 (TNA) - The state-run Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand) has forecast that the country's exports should grow by 3.4-3.5 per cent year-on-year on average in 2019, while the private sector has projected that Thai exports this year should expand by only 3 per cent year-on-year on average. EXIM Thailand President Pisit Serewiwattana told journalists on Thursday that the country's exports are more likely to grow by 3.4 per cent year-on-year on average in 2019, but they could grow by 3.5 per cent year-on-year if the ongoing trade war between the immense Chinese and the US economies was relieved quickly and the newly-elected Thai government took office soon without any difficulty but with policies on practically boosting the domestic investment later this year. Pisit said although Thai exports are likely to shrink in the first half of this year due mainly to a slowdown in the world economy, the decline in Thai exports is viewed to be less than such more export-oriented economies as Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan. Meanwhile, the Thai National Shippers' Council (TNSC) has projected that Thai exports should grow by only 3 per cent year-on-year on average in 2019, worth about 22 billion US dollars monthly, based on the assumption that the Thai currency hovers around 33 baht a US dollar and the Thai economy expands by 3.2 per cent year-on-year on average in 2019. TNSC Board Chairperson Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong stated that Thailand's export growth could grow by 5 per cent year-on-year on average in 2019, from about 6.7 per cent year-on-year on average in 2018, if the country's export values reached at least 22.8 billion US dollars monthly over the rest of this year. Ghanyapad made the assessment in response to a shrink in Thai exports by 1.6 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year due to the unsettled trade war between China and the United States, unstable foreign exchange rates and rising world oil prices. The TNSC board chairperson proposed that the newly-elected Thai government promote and support the Thai Kingdom as a regional export hub of exports and the production of processed farm products, especially at the country's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), through reduced legal red tapes and redundancy and appropriate minimum wage rates, as well as the agricultural zoning and contracted farming policies, while also organizing roadshows overseas to promote Thai products and explore new potential markets for Thai exporters. (TNA)