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Gold sales depend on world prices
Thailand’s future gold trade will be affected by
international prices and US interest rates, according to an industry expert.
Gold sales in the first half of this year declined because of the
fluctuations in the gold price. Local gold prices usually reflect the trends
on the international gold market. “Domestic demand for gold is highly
sensitive to changes in its prices,” said the Chairman of the Gold
Traders’ Association. Chitti Thangsitpakdee.
The US economy and the increase in the international oil
prices also influence world gold prices. High oil prices force consumers to
spend more on petrol, and as a result they hesitate to buy luxury goods,
Chitti said.
A slight increase in the US interest rates in the future
may edge up gold prices, but according to Chitti, a substantial rise in the
US Federal Reserve is likely to weaken gold prices and benefit Thailand’s
gold trade. (TNA)
‘Thailand: The Clean Nation’
NGOs step up anti-corruption campaign
A new national campaign has been launched to help curb
corruption throughout the country. The project, organized by a group of
non-government organizations (NGOs) is aimed at encouraging honesty among
the public, government officials, and politicians, according to one of its
organizers, the Chai Pattana Foundation secretary-general, Sumet
Tantivejjakul.
It was inspired by His Majesty the King’s recent
denunciation of corruption and dishonesty in Thai society.
The primary purpose of the scheme, Sumet said, is to
increase public awareness of the problem, and try to prevent vulnerable
officials and politicians from being tempted to commit such crimes. The
campaigners are working at the provincial level to encourage honesty.
The project’s network, “Thailand: The Clean
Nation”, has already been established in the East and the North. There are
now plans to extend the campaign to the South next month.
At the end of the project, the organizers will nominate
model citizens in a variety of professions for each province. After a
further selection process, some will be recognized at the national level.
These people will be honored as ‘the people of the year’.
More than 80 NGOs and charitable foundations are
participating in the scheme. The organizers plan to extend the project to
all the country’s 76 provinces by His Majesty the King’s birthday this
year on December 5. (TNA)
Vehicle export to Australia to rise sharply due to FTA
The export of vehicles from Thailand to Australia is
projected to rise significantly once the free trade agreement (FTA) between
the two countries is put into effect early next year, according to an
industry executive.
Wallop Teosiri, director of the Automobile Institute,
said the FTA would bring up revenue earned from the shipment of autos and
parts by 30 percent from 30-40 billion baht last year. It is expected the
sale growth of cars will outpace that of pick-up trucks. Total sales of
vehicles could reach 90,000 units compared with 70,000 units last year.
He said the sale of cars should increase considerably
since import tariffs on Australian cars would reduce to zero from 15
percent, those on pick-ups with engines of more than 3,000 cc to zero from
80 percent, and those on pick-ups with engines of less than 3,000 cc to 30
percent from 89 percent.
“The agreement will also pave the way for the two
countries to become partnership in trade and investment,” said Wallop. (TNA)
Trade surplus expected to hit US$1 billion
Deputy Commerce Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal expressed
confidence that Thailand’s trade surplus would reach at least US$1 billion
this year, driven by strong export growth of up to 17 percent.
Dismissing stricter European Union regulations on Thai
imports, including a tighter quota system for Thai rice imports, as having a
minimal impact on overall export growth, Pongsak said he believed that
export growth would hit 17 percent this year. This compares to official
export growth forecasts of 15 percent.
Pongsak said that export growth would continue in
strength through to the fourth trimester of 2004, a forecast based on a
steady rise in raw material imports for export production and a rise in the
utilization of manufacturing capacity. This meant that Thailand’s trade
surplus for the year as a whole as likely to hit US$1 billion, the deputy
minister said, noting that despite the hefty value of oil imports in May,
Thailand had clocked up a trade surplus for the month of US$160 million.
He also voiced optimism that Thailand’s export sector
would continue to grow next year as the nation gears up for the realization
of free trade area (FTA) agreements with a number of countries around the
world.
Ministry of Commerce figures put Thai exports for May at
US$8.108 billion, the highest recorded figure ever. Imports, meanwhile, were
worth US$7.978 billion. May’s trade surplus came after two months of trade
deficit, caused by rising oil prices and heavy imports of raw materials for
export production. (TNA)
Finance ministry to slash
proposed annual budget
Thailand’s Special Budget Commission told the finance
ministry to slash at least 160 million baht off its proposed annual budget for
the 2005 fiscal year. Watchara Na Wangkanai, a special budget commissioner and a
Thai-Rak-Thai MP from Nakorn Ratchasima, said after a first round of discussion
over the finance ministry’s proposed budget that the commissioners told the
ministry to trim its budget size by 160 million baht from 140 billion baht.
‘’The commissioners ordered a slice in budget for
departments under the ministry, but they gave the green light to the
ministry’s plan to inject 820 million baht into promoting economies of
neighboring countries in the form of cheap loans and unconditional aid,’’
said the legislator.
Meanwhile, the commission spokesman, Acting Police Captain
Pongsaphan Sunthornchai said the commissioners expected to complete scrutinizing
proposed budgets from different ministries before middle of August. (TNA)
Five financial institutions queue up to become banks
Five financial institutions have submitted requests to
the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to become commercial banks according to BOT
Governor Pridiyathorn Devakula. Pridiyathorn said that a number of credit
fonciers and fund companies were now scrambling to meet the July 31 deadline
for meeting the eligibility criteria for transformation into commercial bank
status, with some companies merging to become commercial banks, and others
simply submitting plans for direct transformation.
Deputy BOT Governor Tarisa Wattanakase said that five
companies have submitted requests to become either full-scale or small-scale
commercial banks. “The BOT has now deliberated and passed on the details
of one company to the Ministry of finance. Deliberations are still underway
on the remaining four companies”, she said, while warning that any
financial institution which failed to submit its plans by the cut-off date
of July 31 would not have its request considered. (TNA)
MOI pledges support for spa industry
Minister of Industry Pinit Jarusombat has pledged full
support for comprehensive development of Thai-owned spa businesses so they
can compete in the world market and tape foreign clients for currency
revenue. The ministry will ask the Board of Investment to grant investment
promotions to the spa business in terms of services and production of spa
products. The promotional privileges would be given only to Thai investors
who are required to have a minimum investment of 500,000 baht.
Pinit said the number of entrepreneurs operating in the
industry is currently around 300 which earn about 3.7 billion baht from the
business. It is expected revenue will rise to around 7.26 billion baht for
this year. Of this, about 80% are from services to foreign clients.
To enable Thai-owned spa business to grow in an efficient
and sustainable manner and to compete in the global market, state agencies
and private companies must cooperate in accelerating the development of the
quality of services and products to meet the international standard. Pinit
said his ministry would be responsible for developing competitiveness, the
Commerce Ministry for promoting exports, and the Tourism and Sports Ministry
for boosting marketing images.
Permanent Secretary for Industry Manu Leopairot said the
Institute of Small- and Medium-size Enterprise Development had targeted
development in three phases: training entrepreneurs to develop and upgrade
products to meet international standards and link spa networks from
downstream to upstream, developing their own spa brand in the world market,
and promoting Thailand as a spa capital of Asia.
Tourism and Sports Minister Sontaya Khunpluen said the
spa business in Thailand was more popular among foreign tourists than that
in Indonesia’s island of Bali and its development is considered a key
factor for the promotion of Thailand as an Asian tourism center (TNA)
Higher product prices push up inflation rates
Local inflation rates rose to 2.3% in the first half of
this year due to higher prices of various food products and energy,
according to a senior official of the Commerce Ministry. Karun Kittsathaporn,
permanent secretary for commerce, said the inflation rates in June edged up
by 0.2% from the previous month and surged by 3% from the same month last
year.
He said the inflation rise in the first half stemmed from
higher prices of jasmine rice, pork, fresh chicken, eggs, fish and seafood,
fruits and vegetables, power bills, cooking gas, fuel, fares, and medicine.
Still, jasmine rice and pork prices began to edge down in June due to a
slowdown in trading since consumers turned to other food products of lower
prices. Fuel and fare prices have increased since the government raised the
capped prices of gasoline twice by 60 satang each.
Basic inflation rates in June stayed unchanged from the
previous month, but edged up by 0.5% from the same month the year before.
The rates in the first half had also climbed up by 0.3% from the
corresponding period last year. (TNA)
Tropical fruit aiming for global export market
The government is rushing to develop Thailand’s
production of tropical fruit in order to gain the leading edge in an
increasingly liberalized and competitive global marketplace.
Director-general of the Department for Agricultural Extension Thongchat
Raksakun said that the department has drawn up strategies to boost
Thailand’s agricultural competitiveness, in particular in the light of
recent and future free trade area (FTA) deals with countries around the
world.
Under the department’s plans, farmers will be
encouraged to undertake their own business transactions and developments
without having to rely directly on state support, thus boosting farmers’
incomes. Thongchat said that Thailand needs to identify agricultural
products which Thailand was capable of producing, and for which global
competition was weak. The main focus will be on the development of tropical
fruit, in order that Thailand could seize a greater share of the global
export market, he said, noting that Thailand was almost unique in its
cultivation of fruits such as mangosteens and longans. With longans already
bringing in revenue of over 10 billion baht a year, longans, along with
durians, are to stand at the heart of government agricultural export
strategies. (TNA)
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