Thai PM: flood rehabilitation will take 3 months earliest

BANGKOK, October 31 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Monday that flood rehabilitation in Thailand will take at least 3 months and the government will need at least 80 billion baht to fund the program. In an interview given at the government’s flood relief operation centre (FROC), Yingluck also said experts will need more information to determine measures to restore flood-hit industrial estates, covering how to drain flood water out of the flooded compounds and the building of permanent flood walls. On rehabilitation for Japanese firms in the affected sites, the female Thai premier noted that the government will offer them tax concessions and arrange loans for them to purchase water pumps. She said the Energy Ministry will carry out reconstruction for areas where waters have receded, while the Foreign Ministry will work to rebuild confidence in entrepreneurs by publishing long-term national management and recovery plans. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), meanwhile, will also offer loans to Japanese firms that invest in Thailand, she added. (TNA)