Private sector offers 6-point flood plan

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The Kingdom’s three most powerful private-sector organisations have come up with an integrated plan for dealing with the flood crisis and its aftermath.

The joint standing committee comprising the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Thai Bankers Association yesterday held a special meeting to brainstorm on the crisis.

Phongsak Assakul, chairman of the meeting and of the Board of Trade, said the meeting came up with six proposals on water man?agement and flood prevention, to be submitted immediately to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

First, government agencies should unify their water-manage?ment measures to release the current deluge from Bangkok and other provinces urgently. An ad hoc com?mittee chaired by the prime minis?ter should be set up. The committee should include representatives from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Army, the Royal Irrigation Department, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Transport Ministry, the private sector, engineers and other experts to brainstorm on the most efficient method to drain the flood water.

Second, the government should urgently restore the agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors by getting a clear picture of what affected enterprises require and pro?vide experts and human and other resources to help them. The FTI would be responsible for surveying affected businesses so that the gov?ernment gets accurate information.

Third, the government should cooperate with private organisations on estimating losses to the econom?ic system so that it can allocate a budget and prioritise plans for the recovery of each sector.

Fourth, as the government will need an enormous budget for restarting the country’s economy, it should revise its economic policies. For instance, the tax schemes to help first-car and first-house buyers should be suspended.

Fifth, the government should rapidly boost foreign investors’ con?fidence after…

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