Thailand goes ahead with strategies under 11th national development plan

BANGKOK, November 8 (TNA) - The Thai government is pursuing and driving the country ahead with strategies under the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan, from 2012-2016, under which the private sector has proposed seven development strategies. At a joint public-private workshop organized in Bangkok on Thursday by the National Economic and Social Development Board, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan acknowledged that the Thai government has implemented policies for the sake of national strength over the past year, including those on flood prevention, road construction to maintain national logistics even during flooding and infrastructure development covering high-speed mass rail transit systems and deep seaport projects. Besides, Niwatthamrong said that the government has kept preparing Thailand for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), scheduled to be formed by 2015, and has formulated eight strategies towards the Single Economic Community of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on October 24; while having promoted public-private cooperation through the Public-Private Joint Committee's mechanisms as well. Meanwhile, the private sector has proposed strategies in accordance with the 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan, which include 1) the development of the Thai agricultural sector to boost the value of agricultural products to the equivalent of at least 16 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), 2) the development of the Thai industrial sector with a focus on the production of food, agro-industrial products, rubber, rubber wood and green energy, 3) tourism promotion to raise tourism-related national incomes to 2 trillion baht by 2015, 4) logistics improvement to cut national logistics costs to the equivalent of 11-11.5 per cent of the country's GDP by 2016, 5) the promotion of trade and investment with neighboring countries, 6) overseas investment promotion and 7) the development of a learning society to further improve national human resources. (TNA)