Thai Press Reports

September 10, 2004

LENGTH: 334 words

HEADLINE: GOVERNMENT WARNED OF COMPETITION FROM VIETNAM TO BE REGIONAL
TRANSPORT CENTRE

BODY:

Section: Business News - Thailand's private sector has urged the
government to speed up its plans to make the country a regional transport
centre before it loses its chance to Vietnam.

The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) made the appeal during the release
of its field survey on the transnational route No. 9, from Thailand to
Vietnam through Laos.

The Thai government plans to develop the highway as a main access route to
Indochina, which is also expected to boost Thailand's status as a regional
transport centre.

A substantial budget will be needed to construct the road and the planned
industrial park along it.

The Lao special economic zone, through which Route No 9 is planned to run,
is still a vast, abandoned field, long after the Lao government originally
announced its development plans.

Vietnam's Danang Port City though has started its own economic zone and
has begun to attract substantial foreign investment, including from
Thailand.

Many industrial plants are under construction, especially cement and
plastic factories.

Vietnam, the Thai industrialists fear, are speeding its development, and
could easily challenge Thailand as a regional transport hub.

At present though, Danang's facilities are not sufficiently good yet to
threaten Thailand's plans.

But Thailand's private sector has warned the government that they should
not ignore Vietnam's high potential to become a regional centre in the
near future, with its large habours on the South China Sea coast at
Danang, Wangtao and Ho Chi Minh City.

These habours will provide strong competition to Laem Chabang habour on
Thailand's eastern sea board.

The FTI has urged the Thai government to improve land transport and
logistical systems between local provinces and neighbouring countries.

They have also suggested that transport costs need to be reduced by more
than two-thirds if Thailand is to become a transport hub in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the future.

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