UNIDO praises Thailand on industrial investment

BANGKOK, February 6 (TNA) - The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has praised Thailand for attempts to improve the local industrial sector and promotional privileges offered by the state-run Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI). Visiting UNIDO Director-General Li Yong expressed the appreciation when he met Thai Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula at Bangkok's Government House on Friday. MR Pridiyathorn told journalists after the meeting that his talks with Li, who is a former Chinese deputy finance minister, were focused on how to further develop the Thai industrial sector, BOI’s promotional privileges granted to international industrial plants which help conserve energy and the environment. MR Pridiyathorn said the visiting UNIDO chief told him that the United Nations is comfortable Thailand has followed the right direction, especially on the country’s assistance to neighbouring countries by investing in their economies to help boost their economic growth. The deputy premier revealed that he assured the UNIDO chief that the Thai economy would sustain growth, as about 1,800 new factories would be set up in Thailand over the next 4–5 months, after some 2,400 had already been opened, which would create more jobs and inject a combined investment fund of about 450 billion baht into the Thai economy. The deputy premier conceded, however, that problems remain in Thailand’s exports due to an economic slowdown in key importers, including the United States and Europe. (TNA)