The Commerce Ministry said exports rose by 1.3 per cent in March to $19.12 billion.

Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee said exports could achieve the 5-per-cent goal this year based on the first-quarter result.

He said some countries had started to import more after economic recoveries.

Imports of capital goods last month grew 5.92 per cent while imports of raw and semi-raw materials rose 11.47 per cent. Suvit said that indicated exports in the remaining months of the year could grow as demand for materials to support the manufacturing and export sectors had increased.

But he said that despite the export expansion in the first quarter there was still uncertainty over global economic growth – a risk factor that could affect global and Thailand trade.

“The government and private enterprises will continue to push this [export expansion] momentum so that exports will help drive the Kingdom’s growth as well as the other two main economic engines – investment and tourism,” he said.

He added that Thailand was the only country in Asean to report export growth in the first quarter.

The ministry reported that excluding oil and gold, March exports grew 1.4 per cent year on year.

In the first quarter excluding volatile oil and gold, export value declined 0.4 per cent, it said.In March, import value dropped 6.94 per cent year on year to $16.15 billion. Thailand’s trade surplus for the month was $2.96 billion.

The combined import value in the first quarter was $45.64 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 11.99 per cent and resulting in a trade surplus of $8.18 billion.

The ministry said last month’s exports increased after some recovery of the global economy and the strong expansion of shipments of industrial goods, particularly vehicles, machinery and gold.

Shipments of agricultural products expanded, despite the price of farm goods still being low, it said.

With stronger export growth, the economy should meet the growth target provided the investment and tourism sectors also perform well, Suvit added.

Meanwhile, the Board of Investment reported that foreign direct investment (FDI) into Thailand was now expected to be worth between Bt600 billion to Bt700 billion this year, while the value of applications for BOI privileges would be worth about Bt450 billion.

New FDI in the first quarter of the year was valued at Bt89.9 billion, an increase of 234 per cent compared with the same period last year, the BOI said. Some 311 projects sought BOI privileges between January and March, up 98 per cent year on year.

In another positive economic sign, the Tourism Authority of Thailand reported that the number of foreign travellers to Thailand in the second quarter reached 7.87 million, a 13-per-cent rise year on year. That created Bt375 billion in income, a 17-per-cent increase.

In the first quarter, 9.03 million foreign tourists visited Thailand, a 15.45-per-cent increase that created Bt455 billion in income.