The establishment of Thailand’s
National Single Window will be fully completed in late 2013, and it will be
linked with other ASEAN countries by 2014.
The Ministry of Finance cited the
establishment of the National Single Window as one of its achievements during
the past one year.
The National Single Window is an electronic system to facilitate Thailand’s international trade by enhancing its competitiveness and reducing costs. Thailand and its ASEAN partners signed an agreement to establish and implement the ASEAN Single Window in December 2005.
The National Single Window is an electronic system to facilitate Thailand’s international trade by enhancing its competitiveness and reducing costs. Thailand and its ASEAN partners signed an agreement to establish and implement the ASEAN Single Window in December 2005.
The ASEAN Single Window aims to
facilitate international trade and investment through expeditious clearance and
release of cargoes by the Customs. It also constitutes one of the mechanisms to
realize the ASEAN Economic Community, scheduled for 2015.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Finance
Minister, Mr. Kittiratt Na-Ranong, stated that, during the past one year, the
Ministry of Finance focused on four major policies in order to cope with
economic challenges and impacts from natural disasters.
In the first policy, the Ministry
implemented financial measures to ease the flood problem and supported
long-term investment, worth 350 billion baht, in water management and the
future development of Thailand. In the second policy, it launched several
projects to reduce costs for the people who suffered from higher inflation. The
projects were debt suspension for small farmers and low-income earners, the
reduction of excise tax on diesel, and the issuance of energy credit cards to
offset the rising price of natural gas for vehicles.
In implementing the third policy to
increase the people’s purchasing power, the Ministry of Finance introduced the
300-baht daily minimum wage and implemented the project on a starting salary of
15,000 baht for new graduates. It also launched a rice pledging program to help
farmers.
In the fourth policy, the Ministry aims
to enhance the potential of entrepreneurs and the general public. Toward this
aim, it has reduced corporate income tax rates from 30 percent to 23 percent in
2012 and to 20 percent to 2013. The tax reduction will promote the
competitiveness of the Thai private sector in preparation for the ASEAN Community.
The Ministry of Finance has also implemented guidelines to refund taxes for
first-car buyers and first-home buyers. Moreover, it has also set up a fund for
new graduates who want to start their own businesses.
Mr. Kittiratt said that the implementation
of these four policies had contributed to Thailand’s economic growth and led to
the gradual reduction of inflation. During the past one year, he said, the
Government was able to maintain fiscal discipline, with public debt lower than
60 percent of GDP.
(thailand.prd.go.th)
