Bt300 minimum wage to impact Thailand's garment exports
30 Jul '11
1 min read
The proposal to give Bt300 as daily minimum wage put forward by the winning Pheu Thai party during its electoral campaign, if implemented, would severely erode the competitiveness of the Thailand's garment export industry.
The increase in the daily minimum wage would increase the production costs, which in turn, would affect the export competitiveness of the country, according to experts.
They say that exports are one of the main drivers of economic growth, and hence the new Government should opt for raising wages gradually, instead of increasing them in one go. This would ensure that Thai exporters, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, are not immediately hurt by higher manufacturing costs, they add.
Thailand's garment exports are expected to show slower growth in the second half of this year and are not expected to achieve the target of 20 percent growth.