Publication of the Thailand Board of Investment
Cover Story
News Bites
BOI Net Applications
Industry Focus
Company Spotlight
Thailand's Economic Outlook
Thailand Continues to Offer The Best Mix
Laem Chabang Port Improvements
Thailand Economy-At-A-Glance

Poland and Turkey
Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yingluck Shinawatra undertook a state visit to Poland and Turkey from 3 to 6 July 2013 as a guest of the governments of both nations. This fourth visit to Europe aimed to strengthen economic relations and to create new opportunities as well as to seek new markets for Thailand in this region.
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Molds & Dies Industry
Manufacturing is an essential component of Thailand's modern economy. The machinery and metalworking industries currently employ a labor force of around 400,000 people and consist of approximately 50,000 enterprises. However, the limited supply of domestic high-end machinery and parts has left downstream Thai industries to look for imports. In fact, machinery and parts currently rank in Thailand's top 5 most imported goods with 794 billion baht worth imported in 2012. Japan was the primary source with 24.6% of the total, followed by China (21.3%) and the US (9.4%). Electrical machines and equipment with individual functions (HS 8543) were the leading products with 643 billion baht imported in 2012. Business prospects exist for suppliers to capitalize on this growing demand for more sophisticated machinery by providing domestic downstream industries with a local source.
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C.C.S. Group
Molds and dies are a category of capital goods that are necessary for modern industries to run mass-production. Customers range broadly from companies that fabricate transportation machinery, industrial machinery, electric machinery and equipment to household goods, office goods, construction materials and equipment. All these products and equipment consist of parts, units (sub assemblies) and components, therefore molds and dies are supplied to every company that manufactures such items. In terms of industrial applications, molds and dies are classified into press dies, plastic molds, die casting dies, forging and casting dies and molds, powder metallurgy dies, rubber dies and ceramics dies.
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Thailand's Economic Outlook
In June 2013 Thailand's Fiscal Policy Office lowered the nation's economic growth forecast for the full year to a range of 4.0-5.0 percent. According to the Director General of the Fiscal Policy Office, Mr. Somchai Sujjapongse, the forecast has been lowered because of the slow recovery in Thailand's major trading partners. Likewise, in its July issue of the Monetary Policy Report the Bank of Thailand's Monetary Policy Committee also revised growth downward, from 5.1 to 4.2 percent GDP growth, to be in line with the global economic recovery and moderated domestic demand. At the same time the press release issued by the BOT indicated that "The Governor of the Bank of Thailand, Mr. Prasam Traiatvorakul, said that the second half of 2013 would see the recovery of the economies of the United States and Japan, which are Thailand's major trading partners." The July report goes even further in explaining that Thailand's export recovery is assessed to be delayed, given the slower growth in China and Asia. At the same time, inflation forecasts have also been revised down for both 2012 and 2013 "in line with reduced demand and cost pressure." Headline and Core inflation are now forecast for 2013 at 2.3 and 1.1 respectively. The outlook for the future is seen to remain strong, as the country's economic fundamentals are solid. This optimism is reflected in the March 2013 Fitch Ratings upgrade of Thailand's Long-term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to BBB+ from BBB.
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Thailand Continues to Offer The Best Mix
Thailand has always been known as a country that offers a good quality of life at a very reasonable cost. But as the economy continues to show strength amidst a global environment of uncertainty, and particularly as wages in the Kingdom increase, does Thailand remain a low-cost living environment? Earlier this year, The Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit released its findings of its worldwide cost of living survey. The Worldwide Cost of Living Survey is done biannually, comparing more than 400 prices among 160 products and services, such as food and drink, clothing, household supplies, rent, etc. in 140 cities across 93 countries.
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Laem Chabang Port Improvements
Laem Chabang Port continues to make significant improvements in providing service and facilitating the export of goods from Thailand. Last year, the number of vessels calling at the port increased to 7,878; total throughput was 5,926,436 TEUs.
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