|
‘Ducaro GA’ is latest product from Goodyear (Thailand)
Goodyear (Thailand) has released its latest product, the
new ‘Ducaro GA’ tire, for the small and medium-sized car market.
Goodyear selected Thailand as the first place to launch
the new tires because they are made here and designed to suit the car market
in this region. The tires will also be exported to distributors in Southeast
Asia. Managing Director Byoung-Koo Han said, “We will focus on the
replacement market. Goodyear hopes to sell 200,000 Duraco GAs per year.” (TNA)
Strategies being created to boost economies of neighboring countries
The Prime Minister’s Office has announced that
strategies will be drawn up aimed at expanding the economies of neighboring
countries, with increased trade, investment and development assistance and
will expect to see positive results in the next three years.
Spokesman for the office, Sqd. Ldr. Sita Divari said that
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had called a meeting of ministers
concerned with the economy to discuss border economic policies. The plans
will aim at expanding the economies of Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia in line
with that of Thailand, as Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at
5.5 trillion baht, compared to only 500 million baht in the case of
Thailand’s neighbors.
The government also hopes to rectify the situation in
which per capita income in Thailand is as high as 80,000 baht, compared to a
mere 12,000 baht in Cambodia and 14,000 baht in Laos and Myanmar.
Policies will include a reduction in trade barriers, the
transfer of technology, labor skills development, and the joint production
of goods, in particular of raw materials.
The government also wants to engage in urgent talks to
cut taxes, amend border control regulations and those concerning investment,
end border disputes, and conduct joint research and development. (TNA)
Old sugar trading system needs to be scrapped, says Commerce Ministry
Commerce Minister Adisai Bhodaramik wants to rid Thailand
of its present sugar trading system it has with foreign countries because
the price on the world market is too low. Currently foreign traders buy
sugar based on the commodity’s London market price. Since Thailand is the
world’s third-largest sugar producer, exporting about nearly 6 million
tons each year, the break-even price for white sugar is US9 cents a pound.
The ministry has been in talks to sell white sugar to the
Philippines and Indonesia at a 50 percent lower import tax level than usual.
Adisai said, “Thailand exports most of its product to foreign traders and
has little to export elsewhere. If we can directly sell white sugar to
foreign importers, we will be able to set a higher price.” (TNA)
Thai economy expected to follow global growth trend
The Thai economy is expected to continue to grow in the
second half of this year, boosted by a reviving global economy. Visut
Srisuphan, Director-General of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), who chaired
the 16th Finance Ministers’ Technical Working Group Meeting of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, held in Thailand last month said,
“During our discussions, representatives of the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank agreed that the
world economy would gradually revive in the second half of this year.
Therefore the Thai economy should continue to grow in the July-December
period, as it would be boosted by the positive global trend.”
However, Visut cautioned that the world economy could
also face some risks and threats, namely rising interest rates due to global
economic expansion, and international terrorism. (TNA)
Imported prawns being exported under Thai label
A recent survey of 29 prawn cold storage rooms in six
provinces found that up to a third of prawn exporters could be passing off
prawns from abroad as Thai products. Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin
Chidchob said that ten of the companies in Ranong, Samut Songkram, Surat
Thani, Songkhla, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon, were exporting prawns from
Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Vietnam and India and claiming that they were
from Thailand. He said that samples of the prawns would be taken and
inspected for chemical residue, and that any companies found to be breaking
the law would be prosecuted.
The agriculture minister attributed the low price of
prawns, which has seen prawn farmers across the country stage protests, to
the large number of imported prawns flooding the Thai market. These imported
prawns rarely had health and safety certificates or import certificates. He
warned that prawns being illegally imported or exported will be destroyed in
order to help preserve Thailand’s prawn market.
“These inspections have identified a number of issues.
For instance, Malaysia, which faces a European Union ban on prawn exports,
pours its products into Thailand and then passes them off as Thai prawns for
export. This may be why residue has been found in exported prawns. This
means that there must be detailed inspections of all export lots of prawns
to prevent this,” Newin said. (TNA)
BAAC cuts lending rates for farmers
The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC)
said it would cut its lending rates for local farmers, as well as farmers
organizations and agricultural institutes by 0.50%, taking effect as of the
1st of August.
Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn, who chairs
the BAAC’s board, said, “The move is intended to help reduce costs for
local farmers and their related institutes by a total of 1.35 billion baht
annually.”
Varathep projected that the decision would benefit over
5.27 million households of farmers nationwide. (TNA)
EGAT to purchase power from Laos to meet future demand
The government has approved a power purchasing agreement
with Laos that will enable Vientiane to go ahead with the construction of
the giant Nam Theun 2 dam.
Thailand’s Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
(EGAT) has agreed to sign the deal with the Nam Theun 2 Power Company (NTPC)
located in the Lao capital.
An EGAT official said, “Thai power demands are steadily
increasing and the purchase price is cheaper in Laos than here in Thailand.
The new deal will increase power supply in 17 of Thailand’s northeastern
provinces from 2009, when the plant will begin providing nearly 950mw to
Thailand under a 25-year arrangement. This agreement will also reduce impact
on Thailand’s environment.” (TNA)
Growth triangle meeting kicks off in Pattani
Private sector businesspeople from Thailand, Indonesia
and Malaysia recently met in the southern town of Pattani for a tri-partite
workshop that will focus on the development of the rubber, oil palm, halal
food processing and tourism industries.
Presiding over the meeting of the “Indonesia Malaysia
Thailand Growth Triangle” (IMT-GT), Deputy Prime Minister Korn Dabbarangsi
said, “This year’s workshop differed from previous meetings of the 11
year-old grouping in that it focused on clearly delineated industries,
rather than overall economic and investment trends.”
Korn said that the unrest in Thailand’s southern border
provinces was not discussed at the meeting, as it had no impact on the
economy or investment. (TNA)
Cash-strapped island to get 30 million baht in swift nest taxes
A cash-strapped island in the southern province of
Phattalung is due to receive a 30 million baht windfall via taxes from swift
nest concessions this year, according to the president of the Koh Mak Tambon
Administrative Organization (TAO), Aphidech Pornma.
Aphidech explained that until now levels of tax
collection by the TAO had been low, as most of the islanders were engaged in
small-scale fishing and rubber operations and had very low incomes.
Decreased fish supplies in the Taleh Sap Songkhla inland sea in recent years
had exacerbated the problem.
As a result, the TAO was attempting to revive the
island’s marine environment, releasing 2 million prawns and other aquatic
animals into the sea each year. But this year the island looked set to
receive 30 million in taxes from swift nest collection concessions, compared
to only 13 million last year, as this year the concessions were worth as
much as 500 million baht and will greatly assist the island’s development
programs.
Swift nests are prized as a delicacy across Asia, where
they are made into bird’s nest soup. (TNA)
OTOP products fail to meet standards
The government’s much-trumpeted ‘One Tambon, One
Product’ (OTOP) campaign has run into difficulties with the revelation
that 65 percent of the goods selected as showcase products will need
modification before they can be launched onto the market.
After opening an exhibition of OTOP products from the
central region, Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Maleenont, who chairs the
OTOP products champion selection committee, said that while around 25,000
products had been submitted to act as OTOP showcase products, only 33
percent of them had gained 3-5 stars, indicating that they could be
developed for domestic and export sales.
The remaining products had only gained 1-2 stars,
signaling that they failed to meet required quality standards. The minister
added that he would now submit information on the products to the production
sub-committee and the standards and quality development sub-committee in
order to improve the products in question.
Chaisit Hotrakit, director general of the Department of
Community Development, said that once all the OTOP products had been
selected, the baton would be passed on to the Ministry of Commerce to
promote the marketing of the products both at home and abroad.
Over 2,700 products from 25 provinces in the central
region passed the OTOP selection process, of which over 2,000 products in
six categories - food, beverages, household goods and decorations, herbs,
artistic inventions, and fabrics and clothing - gained 3-5 stars. A
selection of 109 products from the central region have been selected by the
Department of Export Promotion to be displayed at the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) meeting on small and medium enterprises (SME’s) in
Chiangmai in August and the APEC leaders meeting in Bangkok in October. (TNA)
Thailand to produce chemical-free rice
In a move to support chemical-free rice for the sake of
safety of consumers, the Department of Medical Science has joined hands with
Ubon Ratchathani University in setting criteria and standards for local
farmers in producing chemical-free rice to promote the organic farming
society.
Director-General of the Department of Medical Science
M.D. Somsong Rugpao explained that under the initiative, local farmers would
be helped to manage their organic rice fields, from planting to harvesting
and transportation, in order to guarantee that their rice harvests would be
chemical free.
“Most farmers now depend on chemical based farming
methods to increase and preserve their harvests. The practice poses harm to
the environment, as well as their own health and that of consumers,” Dr.
Somsong said. (TNA)
Thai bank awarded top prize for excellent cash transfer service
Siam Commercial Bank, a leading Thai bank, has been
honorably awarded a top prize for its excellent inter-country cash transfer
service. The award for the year 2002 was presented by JP Morgan Chase &
Co., a leading US financial institute.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. said that the inter-country
cash transfer service of Siam Commercial Bank was considered the most
excellent last year in terms of accuracy and timeliness, exceeding the
company’s set standard, due to its good operational and management
systems. The firm added that the Thai bank’s inter-country cash transfer
service was over 90% reliable last year.
|
