The FTI Chairman said that floods had cost industries across the sector 50-60 billion THB in damage. He added that the auto industry would be severely affected if the water levels did not recede given how it had already been struggling with the production quota since the tsunami hit Japan.

The prices of raw products are expected to soar as the result of massive flooding across the nation. SMEs, agro, tourism and retail industries have all been affected. Mr. Payungsak said fresh food prices would start to increase at the end of this year until early next year and it was important that the government maintain their prices to increase domestic spending to keep the economy healthy.

Speaking during a seminar entitled ‘the Economy in the Latter Half of 2011: Opportunities and Challenges’, FTI Chairperson Payungsak Chatsutipol expressed his hope that all sides would accept the election result. He believed that the greater the voter turnout, the fewer the political problems.

Mr Payungsak said political parties should ponder over their duties and help create unity in the society.

As for the economy, the FTI chairperson voiced his confidence that the country’s economic fundamentals were still strong enough to drive the Thai Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to grow by 4% this year despite wide concerns over political violence.

Mr Payungsak stressed that he wished to see the country in reconciliation, which he considered as the precondition for a secure government. According to him, a weak administration will certainly affect the economy in the middle and long terms, and signals of weakness already started to be seen in the declining happiness index and competitiveness of the country.

FTI Vice President Dr Tanit Sorat stated that the discussion is aimed at seeking defensive measures to protect Thai businesses while the planned Chinese mega project is expected to attract a lot of Thai consumers. He continued that outcomes from the meeting would be lodged to Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot as the government attitude is still unclear.

About 20 Thai trade associations and giant retailers attending the meeting include the Thai Retailers-Wholesalers Association, Thai Lifestyle Products Federation, Thai Toy Industry Association, Thai Furniture Industries Association, Thai Autoparts Manufacturer Association, Home Decorative Design Association, Thai Gifts Premiums and Decorative Association and Tesco Lotus.

The Thai-Chinese International Products City will apparently be the biggest wholesale shopping mall in the ASEAN Region, covering 26 rais (10.4 acres) on Bangna-Trad Road Km 10. About 45 billion THB is injected into the project. Its construction follows the example of the trading city of Yiwu in China.

Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman for the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) Automotive Industry Club said on Friday that the high growth in domestic car sales was due to Thai economic recovery, higher purchasing power, along with the high price of agricultural produce, growing exports, and the tourism industry.

Another factor was that the compact car segment in the country continues to boom among Thai consumers.

From January to November this year, 707,235 units were sold, representing a 48.3 per cent rise in the sales volume compared to the same period last year, the spokesman said.

Auto production in November totalled 157,094 units, marking the highest figure since 1961, said Mr Surapong. November car manufacturing was up 29.85 per cent year-on-year and increased by 2.88 per cent compared to October.

The total number of cars produced from January to November this year was 1,507,013 units, or a 69.77-per cent increase year-on-year.

The FTI Automotive Industry Club projected that 413,237 vehicle units will be produced from December of this year through February next year, a reduction of 37,962 units, equalling 8.41 per cent compared to the September to November’s total production of 451,199 units. However, the latest forecast compared to the real total car production of 343,420 units year-on-year rose by 69,817 units or 20.33 per cent.

Meanwhile, 1,687,991 motorcycles were sold from January to November this year, or a 21.61-per cent rise compared to the same period last year, Mr Surapong said. The motorcycle sales volume in November reached 144,220 units, up 10.71 per cent year-on-year, and up 3.64 per cent compared to October.

The Automotive Industry Club projected that 533,415 motorcycle units will be produced from December this year to February next year, dropping by 2,713 units, or 0.51 per cent compared to the September to November’s total production of 536,128 units. However, actual total motorcycle manufacturing of 446,299 units year-on-year rose by 87,116 units or 19.52 per cent. (MCOT online news)

Spokesperson of the FTI’s Automotive Industries Club Surapong Paisitpatanapong reported on the situation of the auto market in May, saying that the total sales in the country stood at 62,205 cars, up by 8.89% from that of April. The year-on-year figure rose by 53.4% as a result of the growing economy in the first half of this year. People have become more confident in the industry while the government’s Strong Thailand scheme has also played a major role in stimulating the sales.

The number of new car models, including eco-cars, small and medium-sized cars, launched since the beginning of this year is another favoring factor to the lively sales.

The total value of car and automotive part exports in May is estimated at 49.78 billion THB, up from the previous month by 103.52%

Mr Surapong predicted that the number of cars to be produced from June to August this year would stand at 373,000, down from the previous quarter by 15,330 or 3.95%, but up by 139,218 or 59.53% when compared to the same period of last year.

The President of Food Industry Group of FTI Wisit Limprana cited that the private sector had cooperated with the NFI to set a road show to EU countries, Japan and China to induce investors in those countries to invest in processed food industry in Thailand.

With the rich natural resources in Thailand, an important material for the food industry, the FTI aims to push the country as the center of processed food production base in the world.

Mr Wisit said that there were currently around 10,000 manufacturers in food industry of Thailand with an export value of 700 billion THB/ year, but the investment from foreign investors was still necessary to develop the country as the world food production base.

FTI President, Santi Vilassakdanont, today released the details of the growth in industrial confidence based on the survey conducted in January 2010 among 1,140 samples in 39 industries. The confidence index was 113.6, exceeding 100 for four consecutive months since October 2009. The improved confidence index resulted from higher sales index, production quantity and production cost, said Mr Santi.

Industrial entrepreneurs also expressed their confidence over the AFTA expansion which regulated reduction in export and import costs, said Mr Santi.

It is foreseen that index for the next three months would drop from 111.5 in December to 111 in January as the private sector viewed that problems in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate could affect forign investors’ confidence and hinder the growth of their investments in the future. Mr Santi asked the public sector to present a clear stance toward the Map Ta Phut problems.

FTI Chairman Santi Vilassakdanont expressed strong support over the central bank’s move to relax foreign exchange rules to decrease the pressure on the strong Thai currency. He said the measure would encourage more local investors to run business abroad as there has been currently an increase in foreign capital inflow, which resulted in the baht appreciation affecting exporters.

All parties were needed to closely monitor how much money investors would put in other countries as the policy would be deemed ineffective if the amount of investment overseas was not so high, said Mr Santi, adding that the private sector suggested the government to introduce additional tax incentives to boost investor’s confidence.

The FTI chairman backed the Commerce Ministry’s initiative to establish an information center for investors and a fund to assist small and medium businesses affected by the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). He said that the plan must be speedily implemented in order that the SMEs will have adequate information to map out their business plans amid high competitiveness in the ASEAN region.

Meanwhile, Mr Mangkorn Dhanasarnsilp, FTI Vice Chairman revealed that the key negative factors for SMEs currently include the uncertainty on global economic recovery and the baht’s appreciation. He elaborated that the private sector wished to see the value of Thai baht moving around 34 to 35 THB against the greenback.

FTI chairman Santi Vilassakdanont said he was not much concerned about the mass demonstration by a group of the so-called Red Shirts because he believes the government will not deal decisively or take a tough enough measures in dealing with the rally, but neither would the incident become violent.

Core members of the UDD had previously announced the rally would not drag on, but that the demonstrators would disperse when the rally ends. So, he is optimistic that the incident would pass without violence.

He said the rally would have a little impact on the industrial sector as the main revenue earned by this sector stems from exports, but it would impact tourism to a certain extent and could slow spending and consumption by the public.

Dusit Nonthanakorn, chairman of the Board of Trade (BoT), said the Thai people should stop doing actions that will batter the country because it could undermine confidence.

Instead, Mr Dusit advised that they should shift to brainstorm ways to address the country’s economic woes.

“Now, the global economy is on the path of recovery. Should Thailand experience political disturbances and civil conflicts, it will make Thailand lose its competitiveness with other countries because foreign investors will avoid investing in the country,” he said. (TNA)

FTI Chairman Santi Villassakdanon said the survey conducted on a random sample of 1,112 people working in 39 industries indicated the confidence index increase stemmed from the rise in purchase orders, total sales, selling prices, production and operating results.

He said economic stimulus measures taken by many countries–including Thailand–made economies of several countries, particularly Thailand’s trading partners, begin to show signs of recovery.

Simultaneously, the political situation remained suspended in July and the demand in overseas markets had recovered, as seen by an increase in the declared export value in various industries.

However, entrepreneurs remained worried about higher production costs due to the continued oil price hike. The index stayed below the level of 100, indicating the confidence among industry operators remained not so strong.

Mr. Santi said the expected index in the next three months rose to 96.7 from 93 because entrepreneurs acknowledged signs of economic recovery of many countries and projected they would benefit from the improved purchase orders, total sales, production and operating results.

Still, the index stayed higher than the registered 82.9 in the same period last year, showing that entrepreneurs were less worried about economic conditions since local and overseas economies are expected to show signs of recovery.

Even so, there remain negative factors needing to be monitored because they could affect performances of the industrial sector in the future. (TNA)