Thai gems and jewellery exports believed to grow 5-6% in 2012

BANGKOK, September 1 (TNA) - Deputy Commerce Minister Siriwat Kajornprasart says he believes that Thai exports of gems and and jewellery should grow by 5-6 per cent this year despite ongoing economic problems in Europe and the United States. Siriwat acknowledged on Friday that the Thai gems and jewellery industry has been a key driving force for the national economy, with its export value reaching some 371.24 billion baht or about 12.30 billion US dollars last year, accounting for 5.38 per cent of the country's total export value and becoming the Kingdom's fourth most important export product. Siriwat said although over the past seven months, Thai gems and jewellery exports had contracted by 15-16 per cent, he believes that the country's exports of gems and jewellery will expand by 5-6 per cent year-on-year on average in 2012 due to the penetration of new markets, namely China and Hong Kong, in lieu of such traditional main markets as the United States and Europe, where economic woes have persisted, pointing out that there remain plenty of rooms for Thai gems and jewellery exports to other nine member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well. According to the deputy commerce minister, once the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is established by 2015, Thailand will also benefit from quality raw gems in neighbouring ASEAN members, namely Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia. Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has maintained its revised projection of the country's export growth at some 7 per cent this year, after the total Thai export shrank by 3.9 per cent year-on-year in July and by 2.3 per cent year-on-year in June. The central bank assessed, however, that the Thai economy should keep growing in 2012 despite the slowdown in the export sector, boosted mainly by the government's economic stimulus measures and the recovering domestic tourism, following a flooding crisis late last year, while Thailand's inflation will likely remain at a low rate of 2.73 per cent.(TNA)