On 16 August 2010 at 1.30PM, Santi Maitri Building, Government House, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister, presided over the Prime Minister’s Industry Award 2010 arranged by the Ministry of Industry.

At this occasion, the Prime Minister granted the Award to selected companies. The Prime Minister congratulated the awarded industrial entrepreneurs for their contribution to the development of the country’s industries, towards growth and progress.

The Prime Minister stated that the objective of granting the Award each year is to promote Thailand’s industrial standard. The industrial sector is a major part of Thailand’s economy since it constitutes about 40% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thus, the Government is aware of the need to accelerate strength and global competitiveness for the industrial sector in terms of efficiency enhancement, cost reduction, and value added products. The cooperation with the private sector and various institutions needs to be established in order to enhance operator’s capability in terms of labor skill, design, logistics cost reduction, international cooperation, and industrial development towards balance and sustainability.

The Prime Minister said that since the Government took office, many parties have played a major role in following the Government’s policy and made various achievements, including on the economic and financial crisis solution and restructuring for efficient development and enhanced competitiveness. Not only did the industrial output expand at 22.8% in the first quarter of 2010, but exports also  grew more than 28.2%, resulting in the Thai GDP at an extraordinary growth of 12%. It is also expected that the economy will expand more than 10% in the first half of 2010. With confidence, the economy should be able to grow at 6-7% for the whole year, confirming a quick recovery.

Related factors that Thailand has to confront include changing trends of competition, especially on international trade liberalization and Thailand’s obligation as part of the AFTA, and towards the ASEAN Economic Community in year 2015, said the Prime Minister. This means that flexibility and free movement of goods, labor, or investment will be more intensified in a way that efficiency and competitiveness must be further improved. The Prime Minister then asked for industrial operators to get ready to face these challenging factors in the future. The focus is on industrial competitiveness on a basis of knowledge, innovation, creativeness, high standard, sustainability, community involvement without harming the environment, and a clearer role in social responsibility.