Big retailers give package the thumbs up

Kobchai Chirathivat, president of Central Pattana, the country's largest shopping mall developer, said the new government is quite active in launching various campaigns and measures to rev up the economy and that will lead to greater confidence of consumers.

The pump-priming and social-welfare packages approved by the government will also spur investment by the private sector.

"We are quite convinced about the greater stability of the Abhisit [Vejjajiva] government after the recent by-elections gave them 20 more seats. Due to these positive factors, we hope that the economy will grow by at least 2-3 per cent this year," he said.

Central Pattana is also a firm believer in the strong economic fundamentals of Thailand in the long view.

"We are strongly committed to a continuous investment plan in Thailand. We will also open three major retail complexes, costing more than Bt10 billion, this year. They are in Pattaya, Chon Buri and Khon Kaen," he said.

The company also forecasts visitors to its shopping malls, including the new properties, will increase by 20-25 per cent this year.

"We believe our overall revenues will also rise by about 20 per cent from Bt10 billion posted last year," he said.

Darmp Sukontasap, senior vice president of Tesco Lotus, said it was encouraging to see that the government has moved quickly to deliver on its promise to implement measures to revive the economy.

"If the injected cash can reach the grass roots in April, we can then expect to see an improvement in domestic consumption in the second quarter," he said.

However, in order for the economic revival to be sustainable, other complementary measures are also necessary, he said.

Investments in large public projects and the availability of financial loans will also help strengthen investor and consumer confidence.

Ensuring that people can keep their jobs and that new ones are created is also important.

"For us, at Tesco Lotus, we are doing all we can to ensure that consumers can buy quality products, especially every-day household essentials, at fair and affordable prices.

"We also plan to buy more agricultural products from farmers to help stabilise the price of farm produce and ensure that farmers can enjoy a steady income.

"This year alone, we plan to spend at least Bt2.5 billion on local farm produce. At a time like this, we all should do what we can to help," he said.

Segsarn Trai-Ukos, corporate affairs and business development director of CenCar, the operator of Carrefour hypermarkets, said the Bt116-billion supplemental budget would urgently help refuel the spending power of people, particularly lower-income earners.

"We will speed up our plan to open 10 hypermarkets this year. The government however should consider how to immediately promote the export sector as well as trade and investment," he said.

"Instead of relying only on the government's stimulus measures, we will help stimulate the spending of consumers by ourselves. We will discuss with the commerce minister such cooperation in promoting the export of our house-brand products made by local SMEs," he said.

Kobchai said Central Pattana's latest shopping mall, CentralFestival Pattaya Beach - billed as the largest beachfront lifestyle shopping complex in Asia - is scheduled to open in the resort city on January 23.

"Central Pattana believes in Pattaya's potential as a hub of the eastern region, covering areas like the economy, tourism and the ability to offer services across the country. The city is also a hub in transportation and communications.

"As a city, whose economy and industries are constantly growing, investors, both local and foreign, are pouring exponentially increasing amounts of investment into Pattaya," he added.