News summary from the launch of business confidence survey Update on 24 December 2012 Total: 24 clippings ( 5 TV, 8 prints and 11 online) Key messages covered: - The European ASEAN Business Centre (EABC) announced the result of the first annual business confidence survey. The overall outlook of the respondents is optimistic. The business environment in Thailand and AEC offers significant opportunities. The majority of respondents plan to expand their business in ASEAN and Thailand. - Half of the respondents expressed positive opinions about potential growth of the Thai economy in the next two years, comparing to only 6% with a negative outlook of the Thai economy. - 67% of the respondents are optimistic about the outlook for growth in their business sectors, while about 8% are pessimistic. - 81% of the respondents are considering new major investments in the next two years, the majority of which plan to invest in ASEAN, followed by investing in Thailand and the rest of the world. - Potential business opportunities in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) ranked first with more than half of the respondents considering this as the main opportunity for Thailand in the next five years, followed closely by ASEAN trade agreements with key trade partners (e.g. India, China). - Of the negative respondents who have problems inside Thailand, the largest portion is most concerned with the performance of public institutions and political instability. Important quotes: - Mr Rolf-Dieter Daniel, President of EABC said “The survey feedback received from 221 respondents provided a very interesting and valuable perspective on current challenges and upcoming opportunities for business operating in Thailand and afar in the international scene. Majority of the survey participants were top level and senior executives of companies of different sizes operating in various industries. The results serve as an important insight for EABC to continue our tasks by working with key institutions and counterparts towards strategizing their policies and action plan both in the short and longer terms to improve Thailand’s competitiveness.” - Mr Daniel added that “Major challenges however remain as that the participants are most concerned with the performance of public institutions and political instability. They also expect that Thailand will tackle the problem of labour shortage and lack of required skills. In addition, corruption and transparency are one of the principal concerns. We therefore would like to emphasise the importance and call for prompt action to efficiently improve the situation. What the respondents in this survey highlight actually carries forward the momentum begun by the EABC European Business Position Paper on Trade/Investment Issues & Recommendations in support of a Competitive Economy in Thailand.”
Channel: Nation Channel (News Room) Date: 20/12/12 Time: 23.00 hrs Duration: 4.00 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpB25sXvV9Q
Channel: TV 3 (World Economic Report) Date: 19/12/12 Time: 11.48 hrs Duration: 1.30 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBBA-L13G_E&feature=player_detailpage
Channel: MCOT (News report) Date: 19/12/12 Time: 12.16 hrs Duration: 1.40 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWZjZa0Qz14
Channel: NBT (News report) Date: 19/12/12 Time: 12.15 hrs Duration: 1.00 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyAQk-vdnM0
Channel: TV 3 (Weekend World Economic Report) Date: 23/12/12 Time: 17.13 hrs Duration: 0.30 min.