Thailand's long-term rehabilitation plans prepared

BANGKOK, November 16 (TNA) - A Thai government committee tasked with national rehabilitation strategies has started working out the country's long-term rehabilitation plans, as inundations in dozens of provinces have been receding. The new panel, chaired by Thai former deputy prime minister Virabongsa Ramakura, comprises concerned authorities, leading academics, experts in various areas and representatives of the private sector, including Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit, Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala. The national long-term rehabilitation strategies will cover transportation, irrigation, industrial estate development, constructions of new dams, reservoirs, roads, bridges and permanent dykes along main rivers. Sub-committees set up under the new panel will be tasked with studying financial sources and suitable zoning of Thai industrial estates in the future so that they will not block flood ways. Meanwhile, the chairpersons of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Thailand and Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd confirmed at their meeting with Virabongsa and Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who is also Commerce Minister, on Tuesday that Japanese firms will maintain their investment in Thailand, as Thailand has quality workers. But the Japanese authorities asked the Thai government to grant visa for a certain period of time to Japanese experts who will arrive to assist the rehabilitation of Japanese plants in flood-hit areas and also sought permission to bring Thai workers to work at Japanese companies overseas. The Thai authorities said they hoped that the joint Thai-Japanese rehabilitation would enable Thailand to produce some one million vehicles this year and 2.5 million vehicles annually in the future. Virabongsa and Kittiratt are also scheduled to leave for other countries on November 28 to meet international investors to rebuild their confidence in Thailand in the wake of the country's receding flooding. (TNA)