Thailand Motor Expo 2012 inaugurated

BANGKOK, Novemebr 29 (TNA) - Thailand International Motor Expo 2012, the 29th annual event of its kind, was officially kicked off Thursday under the theme, “Meet Tomorrow's Cars Today", as the Kingdom is celebrating a national achievement of producing vehicles at as many as two million units yearly, the historic highest in more than half a century. Ex-Thai deputy prime minister Suwat Liptapanlop and incumbent Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk jointly presided over a ceremomy to inaugurate the Thailand International Motor Expo 2012 at the IMPACT Challenger Hall 1-3 in Muang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok. The 29th Thailand Motor Expo is scheduled for November 29-December 10, with the first day reserved for journalists and distinguished guests graded "very important persons" or VIPs and the rest for the general public. Suwat announced that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will, on November 30, preside over an auspicious event at the motor fair celebrating Thailand's achievement of annual car production capacity at two million units this year, enlisting the Kingdom among the world's top ten car manufacturing hub. Suwat acknowledged that Thailand's exports of locally-produced automobiles have accounted for over 10 per cent of the country's total export value annually and the domestic auto production industry has created over 200,000 jobs and has helped boost related Thai industries and the national economy so far. The Thai deputy premier also foresaw once the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is formed by 2015, the Thai automobile industry should expand further by several folds, with domestic car sales alone expected to reach up to one million units annually. Besides, the former deputy premier said, Thailand now appears to have best auto production technologies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Kingdom is moving forward to start manufacturing automobiles which use locally-produced E85, made from sugarcane and tapioca in order to raise income of Thai farmers, and to start producing electric vehicles in the near future. Meanwhile, a representative from the Inter-media Consultant Co., Ltd., the main organiser of the 29th Thailand International Motor Expo, Kwanchai Papaspong, anticipated that the 12-day event should draw up to some 1.6 million international visitors, about three millions higher than last year, generating some 55 billion baht revenues totally, as up to 50,000 units of cars expected to be ordered at the fair, stimulated by the Thai government's measure on a tax rebate for first-car buyers, set to be effective until the end of this year. (TNA)