Thailand to soon complete feasibility study on TPP

BANGKOK, April 5 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak says he plans to submit a report on pros and cons of Thailand's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha for further consideration by the end of this month. Somkid told journalists on April 4, after chairing a meeting of senior Commerce Ministry officials, that the meeting discussed, among other agenda, advantages and disadvantages for Thailand's participation in TPP. Somkid said results of a feasibility study conducted by the Panyapiwat Institute of Technology showed that Thailand should join TPP, led by the United States, as the Thai Kingdom would then make gains more than losses. According to the deputy premier, he has ordered the Ministry of Commerce to set up a working group to conduct further studies on the issue before submitting to the International Economic Policy Committee, chaired by the prime minister, on April 29 for further consideration. Besides, he has assigned the ministry to speed up implementing the e-commerce system to help boost national trade domestically and globally. The deputy premier noted that he has also ordered the ministry's Department of Business Development to further develop new business entrepreneurs (Start-Ups) in order to move the country’s economic forward. As well, the deputy prime minister revealed he has instructed the ministry's Department of Internal Trade to strengthen the domestic market and Department of Intellectual Property to further improve the country's intellectual property standard to be more competitive internationally. (TNA)