Outstanding industries in IMT-GT

BANGKOK, October 15 (TNA) - Bangkok-based University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) sees some outstanding industries in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Project. Speaking at a seminar, held in Bangkok on Tuesday, on the IMT-GT Project set for implementation from 2012-2016, Aat Pisanwanich, Dean of UTCC's School of Economics and Director of the Center of International Trade Studies, referred to the industries, including Para rubber and Para rubber products, palm nuts and palm oil, canned and processed seafood and rubberwood. According to the dean, Thailand has posted the highest value of Para rubber and rubberwood industries in the IMT-GT so far, with 908.36 billion baht worth of Para rubber and 156.94 billion baht worth of rubberwood, followed by Malaysia, which has posted the highest value of the oil palm industry worth 1.54 trillion baht. Regarding the Thai seafood industry, the United States and Japan are its major markets, importing 23.6 per cent and 22.5 per cent of the Thai seafood products respectively. The IMT-GT plays important roles, especially in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as the gross domestic product of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand accounts for 70 per cent of the overall GDP of the 10-member ASEAN bloc, totally worth over 1.4 trillion US dollars. (TNA)