Finance Minister has high hopes for growth

CHERNG TALAY: Suchart Jaovisidha, Thailand’s Minister of Finance, today annnounced that he expects steady economic growth in the Asian region for the rest of the year. “We are pleased that, despite a weak international environment due in part to the Sars outbreak and the war in Iraq, which affected the first half of the year, we expect the region to continue its recovery with a stronger growth rate in the second half of 2003,” he said at the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket. K. Suchart’s announcement came on the second day of the two-day 10th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Finance Ministers’ Meeting, during which 12 financial institutes from nine Apec members signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The MOU lays down principles allowing the signatories to cooperate to strengthen their economies and support the development of SMEs in the region. The next Apec FMM will be held in Santiago, Chile, on September 2 and 3 next year.