THAI DEFENCE BUDGET FOR 2018 Set to Increase By 4.16%

On 8 June 2017, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Thai Prime Minister, revealed to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), details of a government budget of 2.9 trillion Baht for 2018. The five Ministries allocated the largest budgets in 2018 were in order: the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Transport.

The Ministry of Defence is allocated 222,436 million Baht – an increase of 4.16%. This is an increase of 8.8 billion baht from last year’s budget. The MoD budget has continually expanded each year and was allocated 193 billion baht in 2015; 208 billion baht in 2016 and 210 billion baht in 2017. The 2018 budget will cover fiscal year 2018, which begins in October.

According to the Prime Minister, General Prayut Chan-o-cha and Deputy Defence Minister, General Udomdej Sitabutr, noted that the increase in Ministry of Defence funding is required for Thailand’s military to increase competiveness and efficiency of the Royal Armed Forces. The money will be used to buy new weaponry and upgrade existing equipment.

Source: prachatai.com l khaosodenglish.com

Presenting Golden Business Opportunities

DEFENSE & SECURITY 2017 is a biennial event which comes at a perfect time. The show will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 6-9 November 2017 right at the start of the 2018 budget. With full support from the Thai Ministry of Defence and the Royal Thai Armed Forces, the show presents top business opportunities to present products and technology to decision-makers from Thai military and security agencies. Exhibiting in DEFENSE & SECURITY 2017 also presents opportunities to do business with delegations that include Ministers of Defence, Chiefs of Armed Forces for Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and Security Agencies plus other high-ranking government officials from all over ASEAN.

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