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Government asked to help curb influx of Chinese-made products
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) wants the
government to invoke stricter measures to curb the influx of Chinese-made
products before local producers opt to close their businesses or become
importers.
The FTI says that many producers are under heavy
pressure from the penetration of cheaper Chinese-made goods into the local
markets. Competitive products made in China include electrical appliances
and electronics, ready-to-wear clothes, footwear and toys.
The entry of these goods, mostly from cross-border
trade, has so adversely affected small and medium enterprises that many
have shut their doors. Others are switching from manufacturing and
production to become importers of products made in China just to survive.
The FTI wants the government to fulfill its promise of
supporting SMEs inside the country. Support and development of
Thailand’s SMEs is one of the tools being used to revive the local
economy at the grass-roots level.
Some of the Chinese goods are smuggled into the
country. The FTA wants the government to stop this illegal activity. The
Federation also wants the government to curb the flow and set standards
for the import of Chinese goods.
Thai Footwear Producers’ Association said China has
begun to position low-grade and high-grade fashion footwear into the world
markets. Many low-grade products are penetrating the Thai market and were
popular among local people because of lower prices. To adapt to the market
trend, it said, local producers of footwear had turned from stressing
production for local sale and export into import of the products for local
distribution. The Association thinks this trend is counter-productive to
the concept of support for Thailand’s SMEs program. (TNA)
British restaurants to promote Thai rice and tourism
According to Commerce Minister Adisa Bodharamik, the
prospects of Thailand’s tourism and exports of jasmine rice in Britain
now look more promising, thanks to the government’s policy to promote
Thai restaurants as tourism promotions and jasmine rice sales outlets. He
discussed the idea with the Thai Restaurants’ Society in Britain, and
received a good response.
“Under the policy, the government will encourage and
support Thai restaurants in Britain to become outlets to promote both the
country’s tourism and sale of jasmine rice. Representatives of the Thai
Restaurants’ Society in Britain told me that they are ready to serve the
government’s policy without any delay,” Adisa said.
The commerce minister is paying a visit to Britain to
seek ways to boost Thai tourism and exports of rice in the key European
country. Currently, there are about 600 Thai restaurants in Britain, about
250 of which are in London. The number of Thai restaurants in Britain is
expected to double over the next five years, as the government plans to
extend low-interest loans to those wanting to open new restaurants or food
houses in the country in exchange for their role in helping promote the
Thai tourism and jasmine rice, according to Adisa. “There is high
potential and promising prospects for Thai restaurants in Britain despite
competition from Chinese, Indian and Italian restaurants,” he said.
The government wants to help Thai restaurants in
Britain cut costs by establishing direct access to suppliers of raw
materials, rather than relying on middle agents, the commerce minister
indicated. (TNA)
BOT confident banks will lend more this year
Commercial banks are very likely to lend more this year
since local and global economies are showing signs of recovery, according
to the Bank of Thailand. The central bank reported that the Thai and world
economies are forecast to turn around, which would encourage commercial
banks to extend more loans for this year. Lending constraints among the
banks eased because they had already set loan-loss provisions and
transferred non-performing loans to the Thai Assets Management
Corporation. It is therefore believed commercial banks would compete
intensely to extend loans this year.
As well, the BOT had relaxed loan classification and
loan loss-provisioning criteria, which would help accelerate lending.
Given these factors, total loans provided by the banks this year are
expected to be higher than those of last year which experienced a negative
growth of 5.8%. The spread of lending and deposit rates had risen to 2.7%
as of the end of the third quarter last year from 1.5% the same period the
previous year.
The wider spread was attributed to a continued decline
in deposit rates while lending rates remained high. The capital-to-risk
asset ratio of commercial banks as a whole in the first ten months of last
year had reached 13.09% from 12.1% during the corresponding period the
year before.
The 1st tier capital fund stood at 8.6% compared with
8.5% set by the central bank.
Commercial banks set capital adequacy at a higher rate
than that of the BOT because they were worried the local and global
economies would not recover as expected and would affect debtors’
repayment prospects. (TNA)
Cabinet agrees to appoint good corporate governance body
The cabinet has approved a proposal from Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra to appoint a National Committee on Good Corporate
Governance.
The committee was formed to help upgrade the corporate
governance of listed companies and agencies and bring them up to
international standards. Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said
the set-up of the committee was part of the government’s efforts to
develop potential of the local capital market in a continual, concrete and
comprehensive manner.
The main duties of the body will be to work out a
policy, measure, system and approach concerning good corporate governance.
The committee will also advise the companies and agencies on how to
conform to rules and regulations and how to upgrade and monitor their
corporate government governance. The committee is also assigned to
disseminate information on ways to stimulate public participation and
restore foreign confidence in the country.
A sub-committee would be formed to study details of the
approach and monitor progress. Members of the committee are
representatives from private and public sectors. Among them are the
finance minister, commerce minister, permanent secretaries of the Finance
and Commerce Ministries, the Bank of Thailand’s governor, secretary
general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, president of the Stock
Exchange of Thailand, and presidents of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the
Federation of Thai Industries, and the Thai Bankers’ Association. (TNA)
Saudi Arabia’s ban on US rice to benefit Thai exporters
A temporary ban on the import of steamed rice from the
United States by Saudi Arabia would benefit Thai exporters in the short
run, according to a senior official at the Foreign Trade Department.
Thammanoon Cheusakul, the department’s
director-general, said he was informed by the Foreign Trade Promotion
Office and the Thai Embassy in Riyadh that the Saudi Arabian Commerce
Ministry temporarily banned the import of steamed rice from the US,
effective on January 29.
The ban followed reports from South Korea that rice
bags manufactured in the US are found to be lead contaminated. He said the
ministry sent the bags for testing at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and
Research Center, and ordered laboratories to strictly examine all kinds of
imported goods. The ministry also banned the import of rabbit, chicken,
fish, shrimp and honey from China since the products were found to be
contaminated with antibiotics.
Thammanoon said stringent safety protection measures
are being taken by the Saudi Arabian government. Any goods found
contaminated with substances hazardous to consumers are immediately banned
and tested in high tech laboratories.
Saudi Arabia is the main export destination of steamed
rice from the US. The ban on the product will give Thai exporters an
opportunity to accelerate the export of rice in the short run. However,
local exporters need to realize the importance of product safety and
quality. They should also try to develop and improve their product in
order to increase competitiveness of Thai rice in overseas markets, he
said. (TNA)
Egat inks Nam Theun deal
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat)
recently signed an initial power-purchase agreement (PPA) with
international developers to buy electricity from the Nam Theun 2
hydroelectric dam in Laos amid concerns about a lack of electricity demand
in Thailand.
Wittaya Kotcharak, Egat’s manager, said the PPA would
commit Thailand to buy electricity from the project for 25 years at a
total cost of 275 billion baht. The cost agreed by both sides was 4.129 US
cents (at the present rate Bt1.57) per kilowatt-hour. Power from the
project will be sent from Laos to a power station in Roi Et Province.
The purchase deal is divided into two phases, he said.
Egat will guarantee the price for the first 13 years before deciding if
the project should enter the power-pool system in the second phase for the
remaining 12 years.
The power pool, scheduled to be introduced in Thailand
next year, will be an open market in which power-producers will have to
compete in terms of retail prices. (TNA)
Next year’s budget set at 999.9 billion baht
The Cabinet Tuesday approved the 2002-2003 budget at
999.9 billion baht, a marginal decline from the earlier plan at Bt1
trillion.
Minister of PM’s Office Chaturon Chaisaeng said that
the smaller size of the budget was to indicate that the Thai government
was being cautious about bloated public debts. The budget would be able to
run in balance in the 2005-2006 fiscal budgets, he said.
Normally, the Thai fiscal year runs from Oct 1 to Sept
30 every year. The 2002-2003 budget leaves deficit of Bt174.9 billion.
Recently, deputy prime minister and finance minister
Somkid Jatusripitak said that the Thai government plans to cap public
debts at 65 percent of the country’s gross domestic product which is up
from the ceiling of 60 percent. (TNA)
Loxley’s capital increase utilization
Loxley Plc (LOXLEY) has spent proceeds from its recent
share allocation to settle its outstanding debts worth Bt502 million and
to reserve as working capital the sum of Bt98.24 million. There is Bt55.47
million left from spending, according to a filing with the Stock Exchange
of Thailand.
The company earlier issued 160 million new shares at
Bt10 par value to shareholders, directors and employees, as well as to
reserve for convertible debentures’ conversion as part of its debt
restructuring plan. Its registered capital is raised from Bt400 million to
Bt2 billion after the share allocation. (TNA)
Toyota tax charges political, Suriya says
Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit has insisted
that the Board of Investment’s (BOI) recent decision to waive import tax
on machinery for Toyota Motor Thailand was not aimed at benefiting his
family’s business.
He told a House meeting that the tax, reduced from 5
percent to zero, was eliminated as an incentive for Toyota Motor Corp,
Japan’s largest car maker, to increase its investment in Thailand.
Suriya said that if he had really wanted to help his
family’s car parts manufacturing business, he would have tried to limit
Toyota’s presence here. He also said the matter appeared to have been
politicized. The industry minister was responding to a query posed during
a House meeting called by opposition MP Alongkorn Polabutr. (TNA)
Focusing on ‘uniqueness’ in new TAT campaign
“Enchanting Senses of Thai Living” could become the
overall theme for Thai tourism promotions if the new strategy proposed by
the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is adopted by the government.
The strategy forms the essential part of the proposed
new master plan directed at tourism which is designed to redefine the
industry in a more holistic manner. The issue will be discussed by an
informal Cabinet meeting this week.
The proposed new strategy seeks to highlight Thailand
and the particular uniqueness of its culture and people. Many traditional
techniques, remedies, herbal recipes, and esoteric foods and spices are
still used in natural beauty treatments, exotic boutique hotels, organic
food, alternative medicine and Buddhism. These alternative approaches to
the West’s more scientific and clinical concept of health and beauty are
used in conjunction with more modern trends. (TNA)
PTTEP finds gas in Arthit project
PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) reported it
has successfully found gas and crude oil in block B14A, B15A, and B16A of
the Arthit project.
The Arthit project is operated under a joint-venture
concession contract with PTTEP controlling 80 percent, Unocal Thailand at
16 percent and Moeco Thailand at 4 percent. In block B14A, four
exploratory and two appraisal wells have been drilled. Five wells were
successful and one well was declared non-commercial.
The five successful wells contained total gas sand
thickness ranging between 13-55 meters. Testing of the combined gas flow
rate per well showed from 6.8-53 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) plus
condensate of 67-760 barrels per day (BBL/D).
In addition, PTTEP found crude oil and testing of the
flow rate showed 2,826 BBL/D. In block B15A, six appraisal wells have been
drilled, and all were successful with total gas sand thickness ranging
from 18-83 meters. Testing of the combined gas flow rate per well showed
18.5-29.4 MMCFD plus condensate of 324-68BBL/D. (TNA)
PM wants E-Citizen system adopted in Thailand
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has a vision of an
“E-Citizen System” being adopted in Thailand in the future and
stressed an Information Technology Ministry will be set up to address
rapid global development.
Speaking at a recent workshop on “Strategy for
Information and Communication Technology Development’’ he said
people’s daily lives ranging from communication, consumption and
learning had changed significantly as a result of the arrival of the
Internet. Thailand still lagged behind many countries in terms of
information and communication technology (ICT) development. So, it is
necessary for the country to establish the IT Ministry to help facilitate
the ICT development.
“I dream that Thailand will adopt an E-Citizen System
in which all citizens will be given smart cards. Personal history of
everyone can be checked through the cards. It will boost efficiency of the
administration of the country, “he said.
The premier said the lack of updated and accurate
information is a key obstacle to the administration because it could
affect the decision making process. To solve the problem the government
needed to outline and adopt the ICT system. The system, if properly
implemented, would provide knowledge and information necessary for the
decision making and help narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. (TNA)
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