State firms told to back off on imports
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak yesterday ordered the top five state-owned enterprises to delay unnecessary imports, in a bid to curb the trade deficit and maintain economic growth.
Somkid called a meeting of PTT Plc, Egat Plc, TOT Plc, Thai Airways International (THAI) and the State Railway of Thailand. These are country's major state importers, with total import value estimated to reach Bt150 billion this year, accounting for 55.56 per cent of the country's total investment budget of Bt270 billion. The five were asked to reprioritise their investment projects. "We don't want to disrupt their investment; we just want to ensure that all imports drive our economic growth and create maximum benefit. Any imports should have minimal impact on the country's trade balance," he said. Somkid added that the five state enterprises should consider not only using local raw materials, but also postpone some of their projects. The National Economic and Social Development Board said Thailand was facing a monthly trade deficit of up to US$1 billion (Bt39 billion), due to high fuel imports and rapid investment expansion. The heads of the five state enterprises refused to comment after the meeting. PTT and THAI have a large number of imports planned for this year: pipelines and four aircraft, respectively. Somkid asked PTT to concentrate on decreasing oil imports by 10 per cent this year. And THAI was urged to help promote tourism in conjunction with the Tourism Authority of Thailand. In particular, the carrier was encouraged to assist the government's Kitchen of the World project, the proposal being that THAI would help set up a subsidiary to operate Thai-food catering services around the world.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation
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