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Foreigners flock to fund
Thai canal studies
The government has expressed optimism that decades-old
plans to dig a canal between the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea could
be realized following interest by several foreign nations to fund
feasibility studies on the canal.
Sen Prakiert Naseema, head of the Senate committee
studying the canal, said the government already established 12 committees,
and that several countries, including Japan, China and Malaysia have
expressed interest in offering financial support for the studies.
The canal, if it is built, will stretch from Trang, pass
through Phattalung, and finish in Nakhon Sri Thammarat Province, drastically
reducing shipping time for vessels currently using the Straits of Malacca.
While several Thai governments have mulled over the project, the financial
scale of it meant that it never got off the drawing board.
Dr Sathaphon Khiewwimol, a lecturer at King Mongkut’s
Institute of Technology and member of the Senate committee, warned that the
environmental and social implications of the project would have to be
thought over carefully. He pointed out that the canal would be a bigger
project than the construction of the new Bangkok airport, which has run into
a huge number of difficulties.
A certain amount of local opposition to the project is
expected but local people would benefit from it, with a large number of jobs
created both during the construction work itself and from the building
subsequent industrial estates, together with income and jobs from the 1-2
cruise liners that would use the canal each week. It is also possible that
oil refineries would also be constructed at each end of the canal especially
to service cruise vessels. (TNA)
BOI Signs MOU with Austria’s RZB
The Board of Investment (BOI) signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with Austrian banking group, Raiffeisen Zentralbank
ึsterreich AG (RZB) to jointly promote the flow of foreign direct
investment between Thailand and Austria.
Under terms of the agreement, RZB will cooperate with the
BOI to organize events in both Austria and Thailand that will encourage
increased foreign direct investment from Austria and Central and Eastern
Europe.
In addition, RZB and BOI will exchange information in
order for the bank to provide their customers with the latest investment
information about Thailand and for the BOI to learn about the needs of
investors from Austria.
“The signing of this MOU is in line with several of our
key strategies designed to maintain Thailand’s attractiveness in global
markets. By collaborating with one of the leading financial institutions in
Austria, we are improving our networking in Europe, which is one of our
target regions. This MOU will improve our ability to gain better access to
Austrian investors. RZB will help us identify potential investors from their
customer base, and we can build off their relationships to promote Thailand
as an attractive investment site,” BOI Secretary General Somphong Wanapha
said.
Deputy Prime Minister Prommin Lertsuridej, who presided
over the signing ceremony, noted, “Austrian investors have made important
contributions to the continuing development of Thailand, having invested
more than 10 billion baht in a wide variety of sectors, ranging from pulp
and paper to molds and dies, and from garments to ornaments and costume
jewelry. The signing of this MOU will facilitate increased levels of foreign
investment into Thailand, and paves the way for greater cooperation between
the peoples of Thailand, Austria, Central and Eastern Europe.”
Property recovery helps NHA easing housing stock by half
Buoyed up the property business recovery, the National
Housing Authority (NHA) has managed to ease the remaining stock of housing
units by half and plans to launch new projects for medium-income people,
particularly in provincial areas.
Governor Chuanpis Chaimuenvong said the clear recovery in
the business had facilitated NHA’s efforts to ease the housing stock,
which led to the significant improvement of its financial liquidity last
year.
Some projects might be launched in the city if it could
manage to buy property and land from Thai Asset Management Corporation at
low prices.
NHA remains interested in buying partially completed
projects that went under during the financial crisis and wants to manage
them alone. But the plan must be approved by the cabinet.
NHA wants to stress purchasing projects with growth
potential from TAMC. A source said NHA was negotiating with the Government
Savings Bank for its long-term loan support to customers at a lending rate
of 3.5% and that GSB has already agreed in principle to give support and NHA
is expected to disclose details of its projects soon.
Currently, NHA has a housing stock of around 10,000 units
compared with 15,000 units in the past. (TNA)
ExxonMobile Limited receives BOI promotion certificate
The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) recently presented
an Investment Promotion Certificate to ExxonMobil Limited for the
establishment of the Bangkok Business Support Center (BBSC). The BBSC is the
first organization to receive investment promotion by the Board of
Investment under the new regulations governing regional operating
headquarters (ROH).
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Prommin Lertsuridej
presided over the presentation ceremony, during which Somphong Wanapha, BOI
Secretary-General, presented the Investment Promotion Certificate to David
Levy, Thailand Lead Country manager of ExxonMobil affiliates in Thailand and
managing director of ExxonMobil Limited.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Prommin said, “The granting
of this investment promotion certificate is consistent with the
government’s policy to attract multinational companies. We are pleased
that ExxonMobil has seized the opportunity presented by the new ROH
regulations to establish this new business support center. The establishment
of this center will strengthen the national economy and reflect the
country’s ability to serve world markets.”
The company plans to start operation of BBSC in February
2003, and will provide business support services to ExxonMobil affiliates in
Thailand, other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as some
countries in other parts of the world.
The BBSC will initially provide services primarily to
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and the U.S. Its
operation will start in phases and eventually cover accounting services,
information systems, payroll and human resources data administration,
accounts payable and customer services for lubricants business.
This is the second business support center of ExxonMobil.
The first similar center is established in Brazil to provide business
support to affiliates in South America.
Levy said, “ExxonMobil has established a business
support center in Bangkok as part of our global effort to continually
improve our competitiveness. Thailand has proven to be competitive in many
important areas including infrastructure, availability of relevant skills,
language proficiency, and legal and statutory requirements. I believe it
will provide great benefits to both Thailand and ExxonMobil over the
long-term.”
Approximately 600 staff will be employed under ExxonMobil
Ltd in which about 200 new professional jobs will be created for Thai
nationals. The BBSC projects revenue of about 1 billion baht a year.
Private sector urges government to tackle EU trade barriers
A leading industrialist is calling on the government to
bring the issue of European Union non-tax trade barriers into the global
limelight, saying that such barriers were not fair for developing countries.
Nilsuwann Leelarassamee, deputy president of the Thai
Industrial Council’s committee on non-tax trade barriers, warned that the
EU’s imposition of an integrated product policy (IPP) on products that did
not meet its stringent environmental requirements could have a devastating
effect on developing economies.
The measures, due to be implemented in 2008, will affect
every stage of the production process, from the procurement of primary
resources to production processes, distribution, transportation to
consumers, operation by consumers and disposal.
Nilsuwann called on the Thai government to ensure that
the matter was brought to the attention of global bodies such as the World
Trade Organization and the Asian Free Trade Association to persuade the EU
to slow down their imposition of the IPP or scrap it altogether.
The fact that the rich nations of the EU could extract
taxes from developing nations would pose a severe impediment to the
industrial competitiveness of nations such as Thailand, he said. (TNA)
EGAT may relocate power plants to Indonesia
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)
is looking into the possibility of selling some of its older power plants to
IndonesiEGAT may relocate power plants to Indonesia
a. EGAT Governor Stthiporn Ratanopas recently stated that
some of its power plants can be dispensed with.
Eddie Widino, director of Indonesia’s state-owned
electricity company PT PLN said, “I think there is a chance here as
Indonesia now needs a vast supply of electricity.”
The plants offered are a 33X75 Mw coal-fired power plant;
a 4X60 Mw gas turbine plant and a 2X75 Mw steam-generated plant (PLTU).
In response to the EGAT plan, Widino said PT PLN welcomed
it, particularly because EGAT would offer competitive prices.
“We have yet to negotiate in detail the prices of the
power plants but for sure, they will be cheaper than those offered by the
private contractors group IPP (Independent Power Producers),” Widino
added.
Widino said that although the power plants offered were
second hand, PLN was not afraid as they would be operated fully by the EGAT.
The locations of the plants have yet to be decided. “But we will give
priority to regions which are facing an electricity crisis, in particular
those outside the island of Java,” he said. (TNA)
Steel industry likely to improve this year
The steel industry is expected to improve this year due
to the recovery of property business and the significant increase in the
product demand by China. Win Viriyaprapaikit, senior executive vice
president of Sahaviriya Steel Industry Plc, said the government’s move to
stimulate the economy by boosting the property business, particularly the
program to build over 11,727 units of houses for the poor would contribute
to the steel industry’s recovery.
The considerable demand by China, which is the county’s
new key steel export destination, will also boost the region’s steel
industry. It was projected the local steel industry would grow 10% this year
with the demand for 5.1 million tons compared with 4.8 million tons last
year.
Win said the company planned to increase the production
of hot-rolled steel to 2.4 million tons from around 2 million last year to
accommodate the increased demand locally. As well, the firm had a plan to
increase the export of the product by 10% with China and the United States
becoming main destinations.
In the first quarter of this year, the order placement
from China increased to around 120,000 tons partly because the company
stressed penetrating the Chinese market.
However, high production costs of the product are still a
cause for concern. Should the costs continue to increase, price increases
are unavoidable.
Currently, the local steel price stands around US$315 per
ton while that in the world market is $340 per ton. (TNA)
BIOTECH unveils new strain of Thai rice
The National Center for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology has unveiled a new strain of Thai rice with iron levels 30
times higher than ordinary rice strains.
Dr Apichart Wannawichit, head of BIOTEC’s rice gene
research team, said that the new strain was developed as part of a
collaborative effort between BIOTEC, the National Council for Genetic
Engineers and the National Public Health Foundation.
The new strain, which has not yet been officially named,
is currently being referred to as Chao Hom Nil 3 rice, as it is the third
strain developed from Hom Mali 105 rice and Chao Hom Nil rice.
The new strain gives better yields than ordinary rice,
with an average of 750 kilograms per rai, while the stalks are straight and
the grains long and dark purple, with a good fragrance. The rice takes
between 90-110 days from planting to harvesting, and the resulting rice is
soft when cooked.
Nutritional analysis carried out by Mahidol
University’s Institute of Nutrition has shown the iron levels in the new
strain stand as high as 0.5 milligrams per 100 grams, 30 times higher than
varieties currently sold on the market. The new variety is also high in
protein and zinc, and contains agents that help combat free radicals.
While a price for the new rice has not yet been
determined, it is likely to sell at no more than 50 baht per kilo.
Dr Apichart’s research team is currently developing
several other strains of Thai rice from the high-iron IR 68144 strain, which
gives white grains. (TNA)
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