Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Industry Minister Pimphattra Wichaikul sai✱d on June 23 that factories and relevant agencies have prepared measured to cope with flooding caused by the El Nina phenomenon.

She made the statement in response to concerns that Thailand is dealing with El Nina instead of El Nino, which could bring a lot of rains and floods to the country. The official said her ministry has been preparing measures to prevent flooding in industrial estates while the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand has also drafted measures to cope with floods step by step. Pimphattra said what was more worrying than floods was the economic situation in the first half of this year, which became problematic. She went on to say that the bad economic situation had prompted Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to make foreign visits to try to convince foreign investors to invest in the kingdom. Although Srettha’s efforts were likely to yield results in the second half of this year, the state of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remained a major worry. She said market demands have changed and SMEs must learn to adapt themselves to the changing markets. The Department of Industrial Promotion and other departments of her ministry were trying to convince SMEs to adjust their business practices to cope with the changing situation. Thailand's Manufacturing Performance Index (MPI) in April rose 3.43% from March to 90.34, marking its first growth in 18 months, Pimphattra said, noting April’s manufacturing capacity usage was at 55.26%, which was not high./.