Thai PM announces new infrastructure projects, paving way for AEC

BANGKOK, June 11 (NTA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says that Thailand has been 70 per cent prepared for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), scheduled to be established by 2015, compared to an average 56.4 per cent preparations for the regional integration by member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), announcing that her administration will continue investing in key infrastructure projects. While opening a seminar in Bangkok Monday on the Thai economy in the AEC, Yingluck revealed that her government will adjust Thailand's fundamental economic structures to support regional trade and investment and will also enhance national competitiveness and prepare for the connection of the AEC with the global economy, the integration of the regional use of cheap raw materials to compete in worldwide markets, the development of more railway and highway projects to connect China, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam and the revival of a land bridge project to facilitate cargo transportation from the Andaman Sea to the Gulf of Thailand. Yingluck acknowledged that she has ordered concerned agencies to work out action plans to realize the projects. Meanwhile, Pongsak Assakul, Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, urged the government to quickly develop local logistic systems by land and water and infrastructure systems to respond to the construction of the new Dawei port in Myanmar. Besides, Pongsak suggested that the Thai government raise an ASEAN fund for local small and medium-sized enterprises and educate them to be well-prepared for the AEC, noting that the Thai Chamber of Commerce will then cooperate with the Ministry of Interior to organize seminars for nationwide SME operators to prepare them for the AEC. (TNA)