Announcement of Meeting of the Consultative Group for Thailand on February 16, 1972

• , l1 L NK FOR t"~D _ EVE~L 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 " February 16, 1972 Subject: Meeting of the C'.ons tilt a ti ve Group for Thailand The Consultative Group on Development Assistance to Thailand met in Paris _--;:::<) on February 15 and 16, 1972 under the chairmanship of the World Bank. The I u fbllowing countries were represented: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Fi::ance, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. " Representatives -of the International Monetary · Fund, the United Nations Developroent Pwgramme, the As,ian Development Bank and the Organization for • Economic Cooperation and Developm<=nt also attended the meeting. The,0 l'li~i delegation was Jed by Mr. Renoo Suvarnsit, Secretary General of the National I - Economic t!evelopment Board. The Consultative Group heard statemnts by 1 Secretary General Renoo Suvarnsit outlining the Third Five-Year Plan (1972-1976) ~;nd the measures the Thai Governnent prop'Jsed to take to achieve its major ,,_ \\ goals. These, together with documentation prepared earlier by the Government I) of Thailand and by the economic and sectoral mis~ions of the World Bank, 9I~nstituted the basis for the Consultative Group's discussions. Having noted the target annual growth rate of 7% proposed by the Plan, the Group generally agreed ~ith the scale, objectives and strategy of the Plan. In particular, the Group endorsed ' ~. the empqasis given in the Plan to the \_ . promotion of exports and agricultural diversification as part of the Government's • efforts to \I correct structural imbalances in the economy of Thailand. also supported the Plan proposals for promoting social justice and regional development. 'i) The Group /more  Unn. Banlc P.R. - Meeting of the Consultative ,Group for Thailand - 2 - .The Group welcom¥d s~atemen.ts by the Thai delegation describing measures • to eticourage private im>~estment in Thailand. They agreed that not.t.rl. thstanding Thailand's satisfactory level of savings, steps would be required to reverse the recent decline in budgetary savings. The Group noted that despite efforts to increase exports, the balance of payments would be the major constraint to economic developnent and accepted the Thai delegation estimate of $900 million as a reasonable forecast of Thailand's requirements for external public capital during the Third Plan period. The Group agreed with the need for improved project preparation and implementation as a means of increasing capital inflows and maximizing their effectiveness; and discussed ways for increasing assistance for pre-investment studies. In view of the rapid increase in private extemal debt, the Group noted that Thailand will carefully monitor such debt and agreed that Thailand remained creditworthy for sub- • stantial additional external borrowing in view of its plans to implement so~(!:"· balance of payments poli~~es. ,, It was provisionally ~'greed that the Consultative Group woul,d me.et again in the first half of 1973. - 0 - • ', (J