ASIAN COMPANIES TO HAVE BIGGER ROLE IN GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE MARKET

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- Asian companies will have a bigger role
to play, once the global automotive market starts to see positive growth next
year, said Vivek Vaidya, the director of automotive and transportation, Asia
Pacific, Frost & Sullivan.

He said the automotive industry would be fuelled by growth in demand and
better sentiment due to the underlying global economic recovery.

"There is likely to be more sourcing of components from the Asean region.
Companies may also relocate their plants to Asean from Europe or North America,"
Vaidya said at a seminar on Thailand and Asean co-operation in automotive parts
and accessories here Wednesday.

The seminar is part of Thailand's Department of Export Promotion, Ministry
of Commerce road show to promote the country's Auto Parts and Accessories (TAPA)
2010 Exhibition in Bangkok.

The event will be from April 28-May 2 next year.

The vice president of the Thai Auto-Parts Manufacturers Association (TAPMA),
Achana Limpaitoon said Asean had an even stronger role to play when it becomes a
Free Trade Area (FTA) next year.

"The lifting of trade barriers will help Asean to be market competitive
against major players such as China," she told reporters after the seminar.

She said Asean's automotive players had the competitive edge to produce
quality parts at attractive prices.

According to Limpaitoon, Thailand is keen to work closely with other Asean
countries to promote and develop the region as an auto parts and accessories
sourcing hub.

"Thailand has the strongest original equipment and manufacturing (OEM) and
replacement equipment manufacturing (REM) capability in Asia, with more than 200
billion baht annually in export value," she highlighted.

The executive director, Office of Export Service 2 of the Department of
Export Promotion (DEP), Supapat Ongsangkoon said Asean is currently the eighth
largest automotive production base in the world.

He said that TAPA 2010 is an excellent platform to enhance co-operation in
the automotive industry as well as to strengthen the market potential within
Asean.

"TAPA will bring together more than 500 exhibitors across Asean at the
Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Center in Bangna, Bangkok," he added.

According to Ongsangkoon, more than 16,000 visitors from Asean, Africa,
India, Bangladesh, China, Japan, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and the
United States are expected to attend the event.

He said that in terms of having a strong local branding for the automotive
industry in Asean, Malaysia is a leader.

"Malaysia is an important export market for Thai auto parts and accessories
with an export value of about US$290.82 million for the six-months until June
2009," he said.

Thailand's total exports for motor cars, parts and accessories until June
this year amounted to US$4.62 billion, acccording to data from the Board
of Investment, Thailand.

-- BERNAMA