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Published on July 9, 2007

Recounting Abhisit's visit to the Euro Money Conference 2007 organised by HSBC from Wednesday to Friday, party executive Sirichok Sopa said yesterday that the Democrat leader heard opinions from representatives of banks such as ABN-AMRO, Merrill Lynch, CLSA, JP Morgan and Legg Mason, as well as members of foreign media.

Sirichok said that the top concerns among foreign investors were the prospects for a general election, the capital-control measures introduced by the central bank last December, the amended alien business law and the violence in the South.

He said Abhisit told them that the government was working towards having a general election because the Thai people understand that it would help put the country back on the democratic path.

Abhisit told the investors that rather than capital controls, the Democrats would use fiscal and monetary measures to boost the economy such as lower interest rates and more government spending, and increasing competitiveness by investing in logistics management to cut costs.

He said he believed Thailand could run a budget deficit for at least the next three years.

Abhisit told the conference that the Democrats believed that the government's policies to curb violence in the South were correct, but there was delay and a lack of unity among government agencies in their implementation, Sirichok said.

Abhisit has said before that the government should appoint a minister who is solely responsible for solving the violence in the troubled region.

Bancha Khaengkhan

The Nation