The Trade Promotion Department is scheduled by the end of this month to speak with the top 10 export-driven manufacturers to evaluate prospects and discuss how to accelerate shipment growth in the second and third quarters -- normally the peak period for exports.
The 10 manufacturers account for more than 50% of Thailand's total exports. They include makers of electronics, cars, jewellery, chemicals and food.
Banjongjitt Angsusingh, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department, said officials remain confident exports will pick up in the second and third quarters despite a sluggish performance in the first two months.
Many export promotion activities will occur in the second quarter, such as the Style Bangkok fair April 17-19 and trade missions to India, China and the Middle East.
The department also aims to promote shipments of certain products such as furniture and electric appliances to the US to substitute for Chinese products subject to higher tariffs there.
Officials will promote value-added agricultural products and fresh fruit such as durian, mangosteen, mango, longan, coconut and pineapple through online platforms including Alibaba's Hema, a digitised retail store in China.
Ms Banjongjitt said the department also wants to promote exports of local products that use high amounts of local content to develop those economies.
"The department set a target to build up 3-5 local exporters from each province," she said.
For the first two months of 2019, exports registered 0.16% growth from the same period last year, fetching US$40.5 billion.
Imports for the same period rose by 2.2% year-on-year to $40.5 billion.
Thai exports are expected to pick up in the second and third quarters according to the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP).
According to Commerce Ministry data, shipments to most markets in the first two months, except for the US and CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), were in the red. Shipments to the US for the two-month period grew by 51.8% year-on-year to $6.37 billion, while those to CLMV inched up 0.1% to $4.30 billion.
Sluggish export performance in the first two months was one factor in the Bank of Thailand slashing its payment-based export growth forecast for 2019 to 3% from the 7% previously predicted. The central bank lowered its GDP growth view to 3.8% from 4.1%.
The Thai National Shippers' Council (TNSC) recently cut its export growth forecast to 3% this year from 5%, citing the global economic slowdown, the Brexit impasse and the trade row between the world's two biggest economies.
The council also mentioned a possible hike in the daily minimum wage as a key area of concern.
If the next government raises the daily minimum wage to 400 baht as pledged, without workers upgrading their skills, the country's export prospects will face added risk because production costs for local manufacturers and exporters will increase, said Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong, chairwoman of the TNSC.
Higher wages may prompt some companies to relocate their factories to neighbouring countries, Ms Ghanyapad said.
Visit Limlurcha, TNSC's vice-chairman, said the export trend in the second quarter is still unclear because of a raft of negative factors such as the US-China trade spat, Brexit and the strong baht.
"Export prospects in the second quarter remain murky," Mr Visit said. "If export growth for the period is less than 3%, it risks dropping export growth to less than the TNSC's target of 3%. We are also concerned about the drought, as this may affect raw material supply for fresh food and processed food."