About 30 % of Thailand factories hit by flooding last year have resumed production, lower than the number originally targeted, according to Witoon Simachokdee, Permanent Secretary for Industry.

Among the total of 838 plants forced to halt operations due to flooding, 30 per cent have already resumed production, while at the end of March, about 60-70 per cent of closed plants are expected to restart production, he said.

Industry Minister Pongsvas Svasti ordered his ministry’s senior officials to visit the factories to learn about their problems so the ministry can help them rehabilitate their operations as soon as possible.

Regarding construction of dykes to protect seven industrial estates, the permanent secretary said they will be completed in August as planned ahead of the upcoming rainy season.

The Ministry of Industry is working with the Finance Ministry and models of the dykes have been submitted to the industry ministry for certifying. Managers of the industrial estates will later seek loans from the Government Savings Bank.

Touching on news that there have been business closures in some industrial estates, he said the number is not great, but about ten operators at the Saha Rattana Nakorn Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya dissolved their businesses.

The head of the ministry’s working committee has checked the facts regarding them. Meanwhile, there are not shutdowns in six other industrial estates hit by flooding. (MCOT online news)

via Nearly one-third of flooded factories resume production.

Thailand places high priority on accelerating the reconstruction of industrial estates and logistics system that were affected by severe floods in 2011.

Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, in his address at the Fourth Meeting of Delhi Dialogue in New Delhi on 13 February 2012, said that the world is facing the new and common challenges that require innovative and collective responses. Last year, he said, Thailand was affected by one of the worst flooding in its history.

The Thai government has set up two strategic committees on national reconstruction and water management as part of anti-flood operation efforts.

He said that an integrated water management master plan, with 11 billion US dollars set aside for a new and improved water and crisis management system, would ensure a safe and stable industrial base in Thailand contributing to uninterrupted ASEAN supply chain and transportation networks.

The Government’s flood prevention measures sek to build new flood barriers to protect key economic areas and create floodways and floodplains to drain out water quickly. Moreover, early warning systems will be developed.

Most importantly, a single command authority will be in place to manage the crisis