Thai state enterprises urged to help stimulate national economy

BANGKOK, September 23 (TNA) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who oversees economic affairs, has called on state enterprises to help stimulate the national economy, as the government is restructuring economic fundamentals. Somkid made the call while presiding over a ceremony to present awards to outstanding state enterprises at Bangkok's Government House on September 22, saying that state enterprises are actually a main drive of the national economy although many of them have problems during the current economic slowdown. According to the deputy prime minister, overall assets of Thai state enterprises have almost equaled to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and this year alone Thai state enterprises have showed the return on asset ratio of 2-3 per cent; so, they should be able to increase the ratio to 5-7 per cent in the future. The deputy prime minister stressed that the Thai government is developing new infrastructure systems in the country and encouraging business operators to apply modern technologies to improve their products. This year, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), meanwhile, received an award for its outstanding board of directors, the Government Savings Bank (GSB) won an award for outstanding management, Dhanarak Asset Development Co. did for overall organizational development, while the Dairy Farming Promotion Organization for information management, the Metropolitan Waterworks Administration (MWA) and PTT Public Company Limited (PTT) for contributions to the environment and society and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and PTT for innovations. (TNA)