Thailand eyes to become world hub of electrical, electronic products

BANGKOK, August 23 (TNA) - International visitors are welcome to the Bangkok RHVAC 2017 and the Bangkok E&E 2017, to be organized by the Thai Ministry of Commerce next month as part of the government's plan on developing Thailand to become a world production hub of electrical and electronic products in the future. Supapat Ongsangkoon, Deputy Director-General of the ministry's Department of International Trade Promotion, announced on Wednesday that the two trade fairs will be held at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Center (BITEC) during September 7-10. Supapat said the upcoming twin fairs are aimed to showcase Thailand's innovative and environmentally-friendly electrical and electronic products, particularly air conditioners, freezers and electrical appliances, in line with the government's Thailand 4.0 digital policy. The senior official revealed that there will also be business matching sessions between producers or suppliers and consumers at the four-day events. The senior official projected that more than 2.4 billion baht could be changed hands during the upcoming twin fairs. The senior official stressed, meanwhile, that Thailand is ready to be a global production hub of electrical and electronic products, noting that Thailand is now the world's largest producer and exporter of hard disk drives and second largest producer and exporter of air conditioners with a steadily-growing trend. Besides, Thailand is now a largest production hub of washing machines in Asia. According to the senior official, Thailand's exports of electrical products grew 9.84 per cent in the first half of this year and are expected to reach 22.74 billion US dollars totally this year as targeted, or a 3 per cent year-on-year growth on average, thanks to a high global demand for the Thai products. (TNA)