Bangkok--13 Sep--thaitradefair Bangkok Refrigeration, Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (Bangkok RHVAC 2007) was launched yesterday at BITEC, Bangna to raise Thailand’s export figures this year. Deputy Commerce Minister, Oranuj Osathanonda, presided over the opening ceremony at the exhibition center yesterday morning and remarked that the industry have played a crucial role in pushing Thailand’s economy forward in recent years. Furthermore, she also acknowledged that the government sees the importance of the industry and will aide in various efforts to help sustain the growth, which translated into greater export income. According to the minister, the export figures of electrical appliance for last year alone was US$41.6 billion or roughly a third of Thailand’s foreign income. “Thanks to the outstanding quality and high standards of Thai goods, during the first half of this year, the exports of air-conditioners and its components alone have earned nearly US$1.8 billion, a 33.6 percent increase from the same period last year,” she said. “As air-conditioning and cooling products are increasingly in demand under the global warming crisis, we foresee a necessity to apply energy-saving and environmental friendly technology to Thai manufacturers. This will help secure the export growth and create sustainable demand for development to Thai industries in the long run.” According to the minister, the government will increase efforts to promote Thai goods around the world through several means to help promote Thai brands. This year’s Bangkok RHVAC and Bangkok E&E have therefore been used as channels to promote Thai quality products. The two fairs have gained admiration from the industrial sector as the fairs that build confidence to the business.During the first day of Bangkok RHVAC 2007, among the top five visitors were from Malaysia, India, China, Vietnam and Singapore; while the number of local visitors has soared up from the 2005 event by 50 percent. At the same time, Bangkok E&E 2007’s top five visitors were from China, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and Singapore. The two fairs are expecting more participants during the remaining two trade days on September 13-14, 2007 that will be filled with eye-opening seminars on Clean Environment and Cooling Comfort and Thailand Electrical and Electronics Green Society 2007. Other highlights of the Bangkok RHVAC 2007 include Design Circle Thailand, which is a campaign to showcase brilliant development by local industrial designers initiated by the Department of Export Promotion, the organizer of the event.Additionally, during the fair, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) will display the first Embedded Systems on New Industrial Design Camp and Contest 2007. The winner of the contest will be announced at the fair on the last day. The contest is an exhibition of advanced products relating to refrigeration and heating. Bangkok RHVAC 2007 is being are organized concurrently the Bangkok Electric and Electronic (E&E) 2007 and the Thailand International Logistics Fair 2007, the largest logistics trade show in ASEAN. The three fairs are held on September 12-14, 2007 for trade and September 15-16, 2007 for public at BITEC, Bangna. For more information, please visit http:/www.thaitradefair.com/fairin/rhavac07 and http://www.thaitradefair.com/fairin/electronic