Exporters to take advantage of Thai LED market

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) is encouraging Malaysian exporters of LED lightings to take advantage of the huge demand for LED products in Malaysian exporters of LED lightings. In a statement, Matrade said Thailand continues to encourage energy saving, and plans to reduce energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2030. "Thailand's current LED lighting market is about US$27 million (RM84 million) or 12 per cent of the Kingdom's total lighting market share. "Market demand is anticipated to increase further between 30 per cent to 50 per cent by 2015. The market has shown a positive growth trend with revenue of more than US$10 billion (RM31 million) in recent years," it added. Matrade's Trade Commissioner in Bangkok, Niqman Rafaee Mohd Sahar said the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, had stated that LED lighting is expected to grow rapidly due to several supportive policies by the government to promote the use of energy efficient and eco-friendly lighting technology. He said this indicated that LED lighting will have an interesting market future in the country. Nigman said the Provincial Electricity Authority is planning to replace one million street lights nationwide with (LED)bulbs. He said other areas that require LED lighting are public and private infrastructure projects, including the construction of a new stadium, the Parliament house, residential areas in the city and provinces, commercial areas such as shopping malls, hospitality and entertainment projects. "Malaysian companies should focus on the requirements of LED products for massive government projects in Thailand, as well as to explore and support the growth demand of LED lighting in the electrical, electronics, and automotive industry," he added. Matyrade said Thailand's macroeconomics has literally been driven by the growth in electronic components and appliances, particularly the growing demand of LED backlighting of electronic appliances. In addition, being the hub for the automotive sector in the region and the new trend of car specifications that requires higher demand in LED automotive lighting, the market is anticipated to flourish. The number of cars with LED headlights will grow from 1.5 million this year to five million in 2015 with the value of LED components growing from US$130 million (RM406 millikon) to US$300 million (RM938 million). Last year, Malaysia's total trade with Thailand grew 5.4 per cent to RM74.01 billion (RM231 billion) with a positive export growth of 5.5 per cent to RM37.71 billion (RM118 billion).