Office of Industrial Economics director general Ms Suttinee Poopaka said that exports of industrial goods in the first half of 2011 totaled USD 85.09 billion, up by 19% YoY.

Ms Suttinee said that exports continued to expand despite the negative impacts of the twin natural disasters in Japan and the debt crisis in Europe.

The export value of electrical appliances in the first half was up 21% from the same period last year to USD 11.59 billion and electronic products were valued at USD 16.5 billion, up by 4%.

The value of exported automobiles and auto parts in the first half went up by 2.3% YoY to USD 8.74 billion. The automotive industry is expected to continue to grow this year despite the impact of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, with expected total car output at 1.8 million units, an increase of 9.4% YoY.

Ms Suttinee said that of the total, 900,000 vehicles would be for domestic sales and the remaining 900,000 units for export.

Board of Investment secretary general Ms Atchaka Waikwamdee said that a total of 1,030 investment projects, with a combined investment cost of THB 299.50 billion, had applied for investment privileges over the first seven months of 2011.

She added that the number of applications had increased by 37.9% from 747 reported on the same period last year and the application value was up 45.5%. The applications came to THB 53.6 billion in July 2011, the highest in the seven months.

Ms Atchaka Waikwamdee said that "Based on nearly THB 300 billion value of the applications, the BOI has confidence that the application value will be more than the THB 400 billion target set for 2011."

Ms Atchaka said that the metal products, machinery and transportation equipment industries had the largest number of projects at 265, with a total value of THB 83.1 billion, followed by utilities and services industries with 222 projects and THB 61.5 billion in value.

(Sourced from www.bangkokpost.com)