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Thailand Reaffirms Stance on Open-Economy
Foreign trade and investment are always welcome in the Thai economy, as the country adheres to economic liberalization policy, the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported Friday.
Director-General of the Department of Business Economics Boonthipa Simasakul was quoted as saying that Thailand had pursued and would continue to pursue the open-economy policy.
Thailand is also a member of the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO), which is obliged by trade and investment liberalization rules and regulations, she reaffirmed.
If Thailand closed its economy as earlier criticized by foreign media, the country would face retaliation from other WTO members, and its trading partners, she noted.
Boonthipa said that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's keynote speech at the 2001 FORTUNE Global Forum in Hong Kong helped clear misunderstanding points over Thailand's foreign trade policy among international investors.
Thaksin told reporters after returning from his first official visit to Hong Kong Thursday that misunderstanding over the new Thai government's policies and stance was apparently cleared during his three-day trip to the Chinese Special Administrative Region.
Thailand's stance is to adhere to the open-economy and free trade policy; while also paying attention to exploring national strength and potential to enhance production capacity and quality with the support of modern technologies, rather than getting trapped in price cutting wars with trading partners, which will only lead to lose-lose situations? he declared.
Boonthipa said, however, that the recent misunderstanding had yet affected the country's foreign trade and investment.
Thailand is a most suitable location for foreign investment in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), given its facilities, infrastructure, environment and other factors that facilitate investment projects, she stressed.
Labor and production costs in Thailand, as well as lending rates are comparably lower in the region. "We also have quality workforces and have no racial problems," added the senior Commerce Ministry official.
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