Thailand's exports rising
Return to normal?
By Jon Fernquest 
The
good news nowadays is that Thailand's exports are rising.Since exports have long been an engine of economic growth in both Thailand and China. This is good news for the Thai economy and Thai pocketbooks.
The bad news is that many economists in the US and Europe feel that Asian export-led growth and reserve accumulation was one of the factors that contributed to the crisis in the first place.
One of the most famous advocates of this view is Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman (Read article).
Some even fear a repeat of the global imbalances that led up to and possibly caused the crisis.
Today's article and the graph to the right describes the recent recovery in exports.
The article begins after the vocabulary:
engine of economic growth - the
thing that causes the economy to grow and the people in a country to
have greater incomes and wealth
Thai pocketbooks - Thai wallets, Thai incomes
export-led growth - when a country's growth is due to developing its export industries (See Wikipedia)
reserve accumulation - when a government keeps an ever growing amount of the foreign currency that it earned from exports, this has been happening in Asian countries like China and Thailand for a long time (See Wikipedia)
advocates - people who support and argue for a special view or way of doing things
Nobel laureate - a person who won a Nobel prize
global imbalances - a condition in the international economy that cannot continue for a long period of time (for example: large trade surpluses in Asia matched by large trade deficits in the US)
trade surplus - when a country's exports are greater than imports
Thai pocketbooks - Thai wallets, Thai incomes
export-led growth - when a country's growth is due to developing its export industries (See Wikipedia)
reserve accumulation - when a government keeps an ever growing amount of the foreign currency that it earned from exports, this has been happening in Asian countries like China and Thailand for a long time (See Wikipedia)
advocates - people who support and argue for a special view or way of doing things
Nobel laureate - a person who won a Nobel prize
global imbalances - a condition in the international economy that cannot continue for a long period of time (for example: large trade surpluses in Asia matched by large trade deficits in the US)
trade surplus - when a country's exports are greater than imports
Economics
TRADE
December export value tops target.
20/01/2010Phusadee Arunmas
The value of Thailand's exports rose 26.1% in December from a year earlier, as demand for agricultural and industrial products such as rice, rubber, electronics and auto parts climbed.
Exports for the full year contracted by 14%, slightly better than the 15% decline forecast earlier, Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said yesterday.
target
- goal
tops target - did better than goal, did more than goal
demand - the desire and need to buy products and goods in an economy
forecast - a statement about what will happen in the future based on information available now พยากรณ์
contracted - grew smaller
tops target - did better than goal, did more than goal
demand - the desire and need to buy products and goods in an economy
forecast - a statement about what will happen in the future based on information available now พยากรณ์
contracted - grew smaller
December exports were worth $14.62 billion, well above the $13-billion target set earlier by the ministry. In any case, the high growth has to be assessed against the slump in December 2008, when global demand was sinking in the aftermath of the financial crisis that began in the United States in September of that year.
well above - greater
than by a large amount
assessed - evaluated, looked closely at and made a judgement about
slump - a period when an economy is much less successful than before and many people lose their jobs ช่วงเศรษฐกิจตกต่ำ
global - throughout the world ทั่วโลก
aftermath - the period of time after a bad thing happens
crisis - an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation วิกฤต
financial crisis - a period when big problems at banks cause problems for a country's economy
assessed - evaluated, looked closely at and made a judgement about
slump - a period when an economy is much less successful than before and many people lose their jobs ช่วงเศรษฐกิจตกต่ำ
global - throughout the world ทั่วโลก
aftermath - the period of time after a bad thing happens
crisis - an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation วิกฤต
financial crisis - a period when big problems at banks cause problems for a country's economy
Electronic goods were the top export earners in December 2009 at $2.74 billion, an increase of 44.5% from a year earlier. Rice earned $466 million, up 33.7%, rubber $648 million, up 124.9%, and tapioca $215 million, up 153.3
For all of 2009, electronics exports were down 13.1% from 2008 and rice exports were down 18.7
Imports rose 28.2% in December, the first gain in 13 months. The trade surplus narrowed to $204 million from $1.06 billion in November
December figures indicate a clear turnaround," said Mrs Porntiva. "The prospects are promising this year and we are feeling confident we can achieve our 14% growth target to $172.1 billion
trade surplus - when
a country's exports are greater than imports
figures - numbers, statistics
indicate - to show that something is true, exists or will happen แสดง, ให้สัญญาณ
prospects - the possibility that things will happen, especially something good ความเป็นไปได้
confident - being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future มั่นใจ
figures - numbers, statistics
indicate - to show that something is true, exists or will happen แสดง, ให้สัญญาณ
prospects - the possibility that things will happen, especially something good ความเป็นไปได้
confident - being certain of your abilities or of having trust in people, plans, or the future มั่นใจ
Exports for all of 2009 totalled $152.5 billion, down 14.2% from 2008. Imports were worth $133.8 billion, down 25.3
Srirat Rastapana, director-general of the Export Promotion Department, said Thai exports would remain reliant largely on the economic recovery of key markets such as the United States, the European Union and Japan
Aat Pisanwanich, director of the Center for International Trade Studies of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said Thai exports this year would be driven principally by Asian markets, particularly Asean, China, and India
We should not be overjoyed by the export rebound," he said. "We also must keep in mind the extent to which the benefits (from exports) have fallen directly to Thais.
recovery
- the process of becoming normal and healthy again ฟื้นฟูสภาพ
key - most important ที่สำคัญ
principally - mainly โดยส่วนใหญ่
particularly - especially, or more than usual โดยเฉพาะ
extent - size ขนาด
key - most important ที่สำคัญ
principally - mainly โดยส่วนใหญ่
particularly - especially, or more than usual โดยเฉพาะ
extent - size ขนาด
(Source: December export value tops target, 20/01/2010, Phusadee Arunmas, link)
