Thailand’s Commerce Minister Subin Pinkayan refers to past performances to foretell the country’s huge jewelry industry potential, urging jewelers to further push exports which last year reached 910 million U.S. dollars.

            “Past performance counts. Many people will make things work. We have experiences, raw materials, (and) very good jewelry designers. We feel we will be competitive with other places and the government will continue to support the private sector,” Minister Subin said in an interview.

            Government initiatives have included nationwide geological surveys of mineral deposits and support for gold and gemstone mining in forest conservation zones and even in army-controlled areas, he said. Official backing also has extended to the training of Thais in gemstone cutting polishing and jewelry manufacturing. “We also organize trade fairs and listen to traders’ problems and try to work them out,” Subin said.

            The Commerce Ministry, though not responsible for the tight regulation of the country’s gold imports, favors promotion of Thailand’s jewelry exports which is tied to freer gold imports and more raw materials to fuel the industry’s growth, the minister said. The surcharge on gold imports shouldered by Thai jewelers is negligible, he says, for those who re-export the precious metal in finished jewelry.

            Yet high duties on jewelry imports will stay, said Subin, also a deputy leader of the Social Action Party, one of six political parties which form Thailand’s coalition government. “We think it’s fair for the wealthy people to pay tax on luxury (items). People who buy them here will have to pay for it. Jewelers who buy and sell them won’t get hurt because they pass the cost on to the customer,” said the 56-year-old minister.

            Also unchanged is Thailand’s profit tax at 35 percent, twice the rate levied by the governments of Singapore and Hong Kong. The uneasy comparison has irked Thai exporters, but Subin maintains: “I think our tax structure is suitable for our country, Hong Kong and Singapore are different. In Thailand, we have many privileges which those countries don’t have.”

            Equally frustration to Thailand’s trade partners is the country’s unresolved protection o9f intellectual property rights. Said Subin: “We believe in intellectual property rights of everyone. We have our laws on protection those rights. We have copyright and trademark laws but maybe (they) are not suitable at the present time. Technology has changed rapidly. And we still are working on other amendments that need to be done as soon as we can.”

            Subin, who was in Vietnam in May, says that country is considered as another source of gemstones roughs for Thailand. Just as Vietnam has become known for its competitively-priced rice exports which compete with Thailand’s output, so its “reputation” for gemstones will develop later, he said. Doing business successfully in Vietnam is knowing the rules and regulations which govern trade there, he added. “The businessmen are already there. We try to give them support, and give them free-hand.

            Among frequent complaints the Thais hove for Vietnam are difficulty in finding a partner in a joint venture, which is required under Vietnam’s foreign investment law, and political and economic uncertainties.

            “The Thais are worried about changes in rules and regulations.   A clearer and stable policy, which will protect their capital and other investments,” said Subin.

            In Cambodia (Kampuchea) next door, Thai merchants including jewelers privately conduct trade, either with the pro-Vietnamese government installed there or any one of the three resistance forces opposed to the Heng Samrin, rule since late 1978. “We don’t know who(m) to deal with,” said Subin. Thailand, a member of the six-nation non-communist Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is opposed to Vietnam’s military presence in Cambodia.

            On the 12-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum which drew together ASEAN, the United States, Japan and Australia, Subin said he would like ASEAN to be the core, with APEC’s activities viewed as an extension of ASEAN. If institutionalized, APEC could lead to closer economic cooperation, he added.

            Asked about any changes in Thailand’s sanctions against white-ruled South Africa, Minister Subin said his government upholds a United Nations resolution which forbids trade with Pretoria because of its controversial apartheid policy. “We have to respect that.”