Bright prospect for Thai auto exports

BANGKOK, August 12 (TNA) - Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, director-general of Thailand’s International Trade Promotion Department, said she still saw bright prospects for the country’s auto exports sector, saying Thailand remained the most interesting investment destination in Southeast Asia, thanks to a domestic pool of skilled labour and good transport infrastructure. Nuntawan said that her department continued to expect the value of automobile exports to grow by 10% to over US$20 billion and that of auto parts to increase by 10% as well to over US$13 billion this year. She explained that the automotive industry was benefiting from economic stimulation measures and promotional privileges from the Board of Investment for automobile investment projects including the second-phase eco-car scheme. Trade data showed that from June to December this year, Thailand would produce nearly 500,000 vehicles, increasing by 9.4% from its automobile production from March to May. Thailand was expected to produce up to 2.2 million vehicles this year, having the competitive edge in the production of pickup trucks and eco-cars in particular. Its main export markets include Australia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Chile, New Zealand, Oman and Laos; while Its major competitors include Germany, Japan and Korea. (TNA)