Jurin Laksanawisit, the newly installed deputy prime minister and commerce minister, vows to push ahead with an income guarantee for farmers, export stimulus, cost-of-living supervision and trade talks as his top priorities.
Speaking on his first day in the office at the Commerce Ministry on Thursday, Mr Jurin said the income guarantee scheme for farmers will offer crop price guarantees not only for rice, but also rubber, tapioca, oil palm and corn, which involve the vast majority of the population.
Income and crop price guarantees are among the key proposals the Democrat Party campaigned on during the general election.
According to Mr Jurin, exports are also a key area of focus, after many forecasting organisations painted a bleak picture of this year’s shipments, which are likely to grow below 3%.
“We still believe in Thailand’s overall export potential, and we’re confident that the Thai private sector will be instrumental in driving export growth while helping to rein in domestic goods and service prices and overall consumers’ costs of living,” he said.
Mr Jurin pledged to carry out pending trade talks such as those surrounding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
He also committed to immediately restarting talks on the Thai-EU Free Trade Agreement, though the new government is yet to officially declare its policies to parliament.