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Carrefour signs agreement with Thai suppliers for production of Quality Line products
Carrefour, one of Thailand’s leading retailers, signed
agreements with five suppliers for the growing of Quality Line vegetables,
fruits and rice at Kasetsart University in Nakorn Pathom province recently.
The
signing ceremony was attended by deputy minister of agriculture and
cooperatives, Newin Chidchob (center), Luc Dayot (4th left), managing
director, Carrefour Thailand (Cencar Co. Ltd) and Dr. Thongchai Mala (4th
right), vice president of Kasetsart University plus many other dignitaries
from the companies signing on to the Quality Line project.
The signing ceremony was between Carrefour and Aden
International and Splendid for organic vegetables, Dole Thailand for
pineapples, Urmatt for organic rice and Exotic Land for mango.
Carrefour’s Quality Line (CQL) was introduced to
Thailand in 2000 to offer shoppers the opportunity to buy food products that
are safe from chemical contamination from initial cultivation to final
packaging and meet or exceed international standards. In 2002 Carrefour
introduced the Quality Line pork which has been met with tremendous
acceptance by shoppers.
Furthermore, CQL food production practices pass along benefits to growers
and suppliers in terms of knowledge transfer and additional market
opportunities.
Bangchak plans to increase number of gasohol service stations
In an attempt to encourage consumers to use alternative
and cheaper fuel, Bangchak Petroleum Plc announced that it would increase
the number of stations with gasohol available for sale to 140 from 99.
Anusorn Saengnimnual, acting president of the company, said the plan to
raise the number of service stations where gasohol is available was made to
accommodate higher demand for the fuel.
With the increasing demand, he projected the consumption
of ethanol would rise to 3 million liters a month from 1 million liter a
month at present. As well, should the government be able to lower gasohol
price by over 70 satang (Bt0.70) per liter from that of premium gasoline,
the consumption of the gasohol might increase to 5 million liters a day. He
said a number of customers had turned to fill up gasohol at the company’s
service stations since global fuel prices increased sharply.
The company had planned to conduct a driving test program
in June and July to invite the public to try using gasohol, he disclosed. He
conceded that a main obstacle to expand the gasohol market was reluctance by
many carmakers to encourage customers to use gasohol because their parent
companies overseas remained uncertain about the Excise Department’s
criteria on the ratio of mixture of ethanol and gasoline. (TNA)
Cabinet approves energy saving measures
The cabinet has approved the Energy Ministry’s proposed
measures on energy saving, as Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej warned
that prices of benzene in the domestic market could be further raised by one
baht a liter. The approval was made at the cabinet’s weekly meeting, held
at the Government House on May 19.
Prommin said that the measures included a public
relations campaign to encourage people to help save energy consumption, the
improvement of mass transit systems, such as the city’s buses, to reduce
the use of private cars, a call for the Bangkok’s subway to start its
operation one month ahead of its original plan, which was scheduled in July,
and the provision of adequate parking facilities for motorists.
The energy ministry also proposed the use of other
alternative fuel, like natural gas for vehicles (NGV), bio-diesel, and
gasohol for vehicles to replace petrol. The minister said oil prices in the
world market had been surging, and tended to hike in the long term due to
global economic conditions. (TNA)
Thailand to focus more
on its own innovation
Assistant to the Energy Minister Viset Choopiban is
calling on the public to be aware of higher fuel prices, and turn to use
mass transit system services to help save oil consumption. He said crude oil
prices were likely to increase and stay high for long because its price base
had already been changed from the stable level at US$22-28 per barrel. The
current prices of crude oil hover around US$40 per barrel.
The upward adjustment of the crude oil prices had pushed
up refined fuel prices to the same direction. Viset said it was rather
difficult to see the fuel prices decline to the previous level, particularly
within this year. “Everyone needs to tolerate the change, and realize what
is happening and following in the wake of higher fuel price”, he
cautioned. To ease effects from the fuel price rise, he said, the government
had attempted to promote the use of gasohol among car drivers and natural
gas (NGV) among taxi drivers. He added that gas prices are now more than
half below those of petrol; so, the government saw a need to encourage the
gas consumption.
The government has not yet decided to raise diesel oil
prices because the adjustment would directly affect costs of entrepreneurs
and transportation. To help save energy consumption, he suggested, more
people turn to use the mass transit system services. (TNA)
Thai construction materials find favor in Middle East
The Department of Export Promotion is confident of a
surge in orders of Thai construction materials from the Middle East after a
hugely successful Thai booth at a recent trade exhibition in Lebanon. Twelve
Thai companies exhibited at the Thai Exhibitors and Thailand Pavilion at
Project Lebanon, which ran from 11-15 May and attracted around 40,000
visitors from Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab
Emirates and elsewhere in the region.
Among the products exhibited by the Thai companies were
faucets, PVC doors, steel-cutting machinery and a full range of construction
materials from Cement Thai. Immediate orders from the exhibition itself
totaled US$71,9000 and the Department of Export Promotion expects a further
US$480,000 worth of orders over the coming year. The department’s booth
proved extremely popular, with 146 visitors, of whom 104 were Lebanese.
Visitors to the Thai pavilion also expressed an interest
in importing other products from Thailand, including food, tableware, air
conditioners and automobile components.
The Thai exhibitors have expressed a unanimous belief in
the success of the exhibition, saying that it enabled them to meet potential
customers with high purchasing power. Meanwhile companies, which already
have customers in the Middle East said that the exhibition allowed them to
further cement their client relations.
Although Lebanon is a new market for Thailand, the
Department of Export Promotion believes that it has enormous potential, and
will try to raise the number of Thai booths in subsequent trade fairs there.
(TNA)
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