Niyomrerks: No. The government's Board of Investment gives equal opportunities and assistance to foreign investors no matter where they are from. And we separate politics from businesses.
TT: What plans does your office have in the near future to strengthen business ties between Taiwan and Thailand?
Niyomrerks: We'll organize a so-called "door-knocking" trip, together with Board of Investment officials, to Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung later this year, meeting with entrepreneurs to explore the potential and possibility of [Thailand-bound] business investments.
As for the tourism sector, Taiwanese are a big contribution to Thailand's tourism revenues. My office issues over 700,000 tourist visas a year, which gives us a great encouragement to maintain or exceed that figure this year, although we may experience a slight setback due to the SARS epidemic. But we've targeted Taiwanese golfers and spa-goers [who might] enjoy a health-and-sport trip to Thailand at a low cost [as our niche market].
TT: It's been five years since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. What is Thailand's economic outlook for this year and next?
Niyomrerks: We have forecast an economic growth rate of 4.5 to 5.5 percent this year, which may be revised a little bit downward due to impact of SARS and the Iraq war. Thailand depends heavily on exports and our exports have increased by 18 percent. And we'd like to see the comeback of tourists by the year's end, which will create enough revenues to support the [tourism sector's contribution of] 5.5 percent of GDP. The government has targeted a 6 percent and 7 percent economic growth rate for this year and next, respectively.
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