Finalists emerge for commerce secretary

Finalists emerge for commerce secretary

Ministry revamp aimed at salvaging poor image

Srirat Rastapana and Wiboonlasana Ruamraksa are the frontrunners to become the new commerce permanent secretary, says a source who wishes to remain anonymous.

Mrs Srirat, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department, and Ms Wiboonlasana, chief of the Internal Trade Department, are considered possible choices to succeed Vatchari Vimooktayon, a C11 official who will retire by the end of next month.

The source said besides Mrs Vatchari, a number of senior officials at C10 levels will reach their retirement age on Sept 30 as well including Pranee Siriphan, head of the Foreign Trade Department; Banyong Limprayoonwong, head of the Business Development Department, and Pachima Thanasanti, chief of the Intellectual Property Department.

The source said this is a big revamp for the Commerce Ministry, which has been criticised for its handling of several issues including the management of rice from the state's rice pledging scheme.

In June, former minister Boonsong Teriyapirom failed to provide details of the losses from the rice scheme, which the opposition party claimed exceeded 200 billion baht.

The huge rice stockpile of 17-18 million tonnes handled by the Commerce Ministry, which acts as a spearhead for the National Rice Policy Committee, was one major reason Mr Boonsong was removed from the post and replaced by Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan.

The source said inevitably the new permanent secretary will also have to deal with the rice stockpile in addition to rising food costs and declining exports.

The ministry plans to push export growth to between 7% and 7.5% this year, although several economic agencies have cut their growth forecasts to 4-5%.

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