Announcement of Report on Thailand Economy on September 11, 1959

\\ God· WOIILD - INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTlON AND DEVELOPMENT 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON 25, D. C. TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 PRESS RELEASE NO. 6oo SUBJECT: Report on Thailand Economy September 11, 1959 "A Public Development Program i'or Thailand", a report prepared by a World Bank General Survey Mission, is today being published by The Johns Hopkins Press~ While noting that the growth of real output of the Thai economy averaged a satis- factory rate of some 51, a year from 1952-56, the Survey Mission stressed that increased revenues and improved. economic administration were required if that ·~ '-:.;·:te oi' growth is to bt.? maintained • • The program recommended by the SUrvey Mission, designed to be flexible enough to meet changing wqrld conditions, is based on tp.e ba+a.nced development which.Thailand has achieved in the past. \\. economic ,· The increased size of public investments, especially in power, agriculture and education, now require a more coordinated allocation of priorities, a concerted effort to obtain mor~ revenue, and a mre careful husbanding of natural resources. The report of the Survey Mission was presented to the·Thai Government in March 1959, following a yea.r's research by the mission in Thailand. Several of the mission's recommendations have already been implemented. Of these the most important have been the establishment of the. National Economic Development Board and a new policy for attracting foreign private capital to invest~,nt in industry, which bas met With initial success. The National Economic Development Board, established in August, coordinates development proposals into a pattern • designed to maximize growth.  - 2 - • During its stay in Thailand the Mission carried on its work in close association with an ad~ Planning Committee and its staff appointed by the Thai Government. The group of Thai officials who had. this planning experience are now associated With the Development Board. This report is the sixteenth prepared under the sponsorship of the World Ba.nk at the request of member governments. The reports are not designed as blueprints for development; rather they describe the essential characteristics of the economy and define the direction of maximum growth and the suggested order of investment priority. Orders for the published report should be addressed to The Johns Hopkins Press Baltir:oore 18, Maryland "A Public Development Proaram for Thailand" .••.• 301 pages ••..• $6.00 (27 tables, a statistical appendix, 3 maps and an Index} • The report may be obtained in the United Kingdom from OXford University Press Amen House Warwick Square London, E.C.4 • • '