THAILAND: Prayut vows further support to rubber industry

Two Chinese tyre makers have shown interest in investing in rubber compound processing projects in Thailand, said Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha in his weekly TV programme.

He said that these companies were driven by Thailand’s potential in terms of raw material and logistics, as well as the government’s commitment to materialize the "Rubber City" scheme.

Prayut recently visited Rubber City in Songkhla. In the programme, he said the scheme was kicked off for some time, but it remains far from success… Success requires more investment and linkage with other economic sectors, he noted.

He asserted that Thailand expects at least 70 new investment projects with combined investment of at least Bt8 billion by 2021. This would boost the rubber demand up to 200,000 tons a year. He also vowed to support the rubber industry through a series of plans, to promote logistics, research and development, as well as industrial processing.

Source: Daily “The Nation”, Bangkok; 1 Jan 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)