NESDB:Thai economy will grow by 5.5-6% in 2012 as targeted

BANGKOK, November 1 (TNA) - The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has maintained its projection of Thailand's economic growth rate this year at 5.5-6 per cent, thanks to positive factors domestically and globally. NESDB Secretary-General Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told the Petrochemical Business Forum 2012 in Bangkok Thrusday morning that the Thai economy has been expanding well in the third and the fourth quarters of this year, boosted by the government's economic stimulus measures, quality Thai products produced by quality workers and higher wages, the competitiveness of Thai exports and high purchase in the local agricultural and industrial sectors. Arkhom said that the United States' third-round quantitative easing measure (QE3) and post Hurricane Sandy-rehabilitation in affected areas should also benefit the Thai economy through increased exports. However, the NESDB chief expressed his worries over Thailand's economic prospect in 2013, as it relies on global economic conditions. Regarding the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by early 2015, the NESDB chief acknowledged although Thailand is speedily preparing for the regional integration with greater business competition, Thai students' average learning capabilities remain lower than those in rival countries in the region, namely Vietnam, and Thailand are also facing shortages of vocational workers, as most youths have opted to study at universities, rather than vocational schools. Meanwhile, Atikom Terbsiri, President of IRPC Public Company Limited, foresaw that world demand for Thai plastic pellets, in particular, should keep growing next year, as China is developing national infrastructure and other developing countries are upgrading their transportation systems. Besides, the IRPC president pointed out, economic stimulus measures in the United States and China should support a further expansion of the Thai petrochemical industry, which is expected to also benefit from the production resumption of local related industries, including electrical, electronic, automobile and plastic industries, in the wake of the country's flooding crisis late last year. (TNA)