Editor's Column

If you have been doing the rounds on the Thai networking circuit recently you may have noticed a distinct change of mood compared to recent months. It’s being said cautiously and there’s definitely no shouting from the rooftops but there is a constant message - business is back. Obviously not to where we once were, but we face a much better situation than we did just a few months ago and things appear to be on the up.

It’s safe to say that business has been pretty dormant for much of 2009 but it now seems to have woken from its slumber. Business events are being better attended, director’s schedules are tightening up and talk of deals is becoming more frequent.

The recent downtime provided many with a timely pause for reflection and subsequent streamlining of processes, from how your business operates to who operates your business. Lessons have been learned and at Director we’d hope to see better business practice being the beneficiary of the last year’s turmoil.

Firstly, welcome to 2009 and the first bi-monthly Director.

We’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year, although I say that with some trepidation as who knows what is in store this year. What we do know is that it will be tough.

As well as the long-term impact of the global financial meltdown we also have recent political events to recover from, and regaining partners confidence in Thailand is a job for all of us to work on. Regional competitors such as Vietnam and Malaysia are only too willing to take advantage of the on-going uncertainty in Thailand and it makes the work of key industry voices like the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) and the Joint Foreign Chamber of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT) all the more important, as it is essential that a business voice of reason be heard.