The government is trying to find ways to help workers who have been laid off after nearly 1,400 factories closed down during the past 11 months, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday.
The government also pointed to more than 2,000 new factories having opened over the period, with jobs created for over 80,000 people.
Speaking after Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, Gen. Prayut said he has instructed cabinet ministers to come up with measures to improve the grassroots economy as well as assist farmers and workers both financially and in terms of upgrading their skills.
He also stressed the need for economic ministers to promote domestic and foreign investment and, in particular, promote state investment projects.
The prime minister said that any spending of the 2020 fiscal 3.2-trillion-Baht budget will have to wait until after the bill is passed by parliament.
Despite the closure of 1,391 factories between Jan. 1 to Nov. 12 of this year, application requests for new factory openings totaled 2,889 as of Nov. 12, Krichanont Iyapunya, a deputy spokesman at the Industry Ministry said earlier.
There were also new jobs created from new businesses for 84,033 people, he said, while 84,704 people were employed on the back of new factory openings, compared with 35,533 laid-off employees.
Writer: Mongkol Bangprapa Source: Bangkok Post
