BUSINESS NEWS
HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

New 50-baht bank notes to be issued

Energy saving measures to be reviewed for discount stores

Thailand-Australia trade to surge with FTA

Central bank will use interest rates to control inflation

Customs Department buys new container X-rays

Eastern Seaboard Industrial Expo 2004 targets Chonburi for expanding investment

MOA holds seminar on new policies and programs

Ethanol project to be put on national agenda

New 50-baht bank notes to be issued

The Bank of Thailand will introduce a new fifty-baht bank note at the beginning of October to replace the unpopular polymer one which was released into circulation nearly a decade ago. The new notes will be glazed white paper instead of polymer.

The bank of Thailand will print the first lot of 144 million bank notes. Over a period of about 18 months to 2 years, these will gradually replace the 2.7 billion old notes in circulation.

The new notes will bear an image of His Majesty the King. The transparent circle or spot on the note will be clearer so that it is easier to see from both sides of the note. The new notes will have three colors - blue, red and yellow - as the paper contains fibers that glow under ultra-violet rays. The size of new notes will be slightly larger to avoid confusion. (TNA)


Energy saving measures to be reviewed for discount stores

The government has bowed to intense pressure from operators of discount stores and agreed to review regulations requiring stores to operate under restricted hours as a means of saving energy.

Speaking in response to complaints by discount stores that the new operating hours had caused a massive drop in their revenues, Metta Banturngsuk, director of the Office of Energy Policy and Planning (EPPO), said that it was likely that discount stores operating in tourist areas would be allowed to revert to their original opening hours. Nonetheless, he stressed that the matter would have to be carefully weighed by the government before any final decision could be made.

The new operating hours, which require stores to close by 9:30 p.m., form part of wider government strategies to reduce the nation’s energy consumption and cut down reliance on increasingly expensive oil imports. (TNA)


Thailand-Australia trade to surge with FTA

Commerce Minister Watana Muangsook voiced confidence that bilateral trade between Thailand and Australia would increase by at least 10% next year when the free trade area (FTA) agreement reached by the two countries takes effect on January 1, 2005.

Presiding over the recent 15th meeting of the Thai-Australian Business Council on “Opportunities and Obstacles in Thailand-Australia Trade,” he said the FTA pact would help forge trade cooperation between the two countries and facilitate market expansion globally. He said the meeting served as a venue where businessmen exchanged views for closer cooperation under the FTA pact and it paved the way for Thai products to position themselves in Australia. (TNA)


Central bank will use interest rates to control inflation

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) says it will not use currency exchange rates to manage inflation. BOT Governor, M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula, said the bank can more effectively control inflation by using interest rate policy. He made his remarks at a special seminar on “Monetary System and Fiscal Stability”.

Pridiyathorn said the country’s improved financial conditions, with increased international reserves, has helped cushioned the local economy against the effects of external factors. He pointed out that the US-based international credit rating agency, Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services, had upgraded Thailand’s position because the Thai economy had strong growth. He acknowledged that higher inflation rates were a concern, but he said here were no signals that a bubble economy is looming.

The BOT, as a regulator has pledge that it will keep a close watch on inflation and attempt to cope with rising household debts and the booming property business. It also suggested various measures to help improve the performance of commercial banks and contain non-performance loans in the banking system.

Pridiyathorn said, “The Thai economy is still growing steadily though it has been affected by negative internal and external factors, like the bird flu outbreak, the spate of violence in the South, higher fuel prices, rising interest rates and the slowdown in the Chinese economy.”

Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) continued to grow at 6.5% in the first half of this year. The current account remains in surplus, while foreign debts have been more than halved. Thailand’s international reserves have reached a record high of US$44 billion.

The BOT chief said, “While Thailand’s economic growth has been boosted by the continued increase in exports and private consumption, the volatility of fuel prices poses the greatest risk.” (TNA)


Customs Department buys new container X-rays

The Customs Department is spending over 1 billion baht to purchase x-ray machines for shipping containers as part of a program to facilitate international trade, according to the department’s director-general, Chavalit Settameteekul.

Chavalit said that the department is purchasing the fixed type X-ray machines from a Chinese company in phase two of the project, with installation expected to be completed over the next 20 months.

Highlighting the department’s policy of introducing new technology to examine import and export goods, Chavalit said that the machines will ensure that shipping is quick, convenient and transparent, will boost the efficiency of tax collection, help prevent smuggling, and facilitate domestic and international trade.

Phase one of the program saw the installation of five mobile x-ray units, which the department attributes to a 16 percent increase in the tax collection rate. The third phase of the project will see the procurement of 4-6 new mobile units worth around 2 billion baht. (TNA)


Eastern Seaboard Industrial Expo 2004 targets Chonburi for expanding investment

Laem Chabang slated for Thailand’s most important port

Ariyawat Nuamsawat

Held on September 21-22 at Ambassador City Jomtien, the 5th annual Eastern Seaboard Industrial Expo 2004 was deemed a great success, particularly in regard to the economic expansion of Chonburi Province. Pisit Ketphasook, Chonburi governor presided over the ceremonies on opening day.

The exhibition featured exhibits from 120 of Thailand’s leading companies and vendors who displayed state-of the art innovations in machinery, production and IT technology.

The exhibition, held in cooperation with the Eastern Development Agency, featured exhibits from 120 of Thailand’s leading companies and vendors who displayed state-of the art innovations in machinery, production and IT technology. In attendance were representatives from more than 4,000 industries and a vast number of interested visitors.

Much of the focus was centered on expanding investment in Chonburi Province and the central government’s emphasis on making Thailand the “Detroit of the East” in automobile manufacturing.

Presently Chonburi Province has an expanding economic base. During the period of October 2003 – 2004, twenty six billion baht was grossed and exports totaled 1 billion baht. Currently ranking 3rd, Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi is expected to become the most important port in the country by 2007. It presently contributes 2.4 billion baht to the nation’s GDP.

The objectives of the Eastern Industrial Development Agency are to continue the expansion of the Detroit of Asia project, development of the mechanical industrial and accessories industries, and industrial development for export from the petrochemical industrial base, which has already invested in the Eastern Seaboard area in order to make it the energy hub center of the country.

Chonburi continues to develop its infrastructure by road improvement and extended water recourses to facilitate merchandise transportation with a budget of nearly 4 million baht.

The central government has also allocated a budge to expand traffic lanes on the Chonburi bypass, including the fly-over bridge to Laem Chabang port. The water source development will be directed through the Banbung reservoir project. This project is planned for the period 2005 - 2007, and will support economic development in this area.

Chonburi Governor Pisit Ketphasook said, “The Eastern Seaboard Industrial Expo 2004 will greatly benefit Thailand’s entrepreneurs and industrialists as it raises the profile of industrial technology development. Normally all exhibitions are held in Bangkok. It is rare to organize such an event in the provinces. This is evidence that there is real belief in the development of this area. Entrepreneurs should make the most of this occasion to develop their production potential so they can compete in the global market.”


MOA holds seminar on new policies and programs

Ariyawat Nuamsawat

The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in cooperation with the Cooperative Society recently held a seminar to introduce new programs and policies aimed at helping the nation’s low-income earners. These new schemes will be implemented nationwide through a system of cooperatives aimed at raising the living standards of the poor.

Kosit Suwinitchit (center), Ministry of Agriculture, and a Cooperative Society consultant presided over the seminar.

Held at the Town in Town Hotel in Pattaya on September 6, Kosit Suwinitchit, from the MOA, opened the seminar by explaining the various ways in which cooperative societies could expand their efficiency and combine their businesses, thereby helping each other.

For example, the Cooperative Society has a program to combine businesses to expand the efficiency of the Bus Administration.

Rice is a mainstay economic commodity in Thailand but must be more competitive. The Cooperative Society in the agricultural sector gathers un-husked rice from members and stores the rice before selling it. Most of the rice markets are local. Sales in Bangkok and the provinces are unstable because they are not connected to business between the Produce Cooperative Societies, Sales Cooperative Societies and the Consumer Cooperative Societies. This pushes price pressure on the consumer.

Aware of these problems, the Agriculture Department will coordinate with the Produce Cooperative Societies, the Sales Cooperative Societies, and the Domiciles Cooperative Societies to band together according to the principal of cooperative societies and setup a “Cooperative Society Rice Project”.

This project will allow the consumer and the Cooperative Societies to help each other by increasing the income of the members who sell rice and by decrease consumer expenses. This includes advertising the cooperative products to the public.

At present there are 10 Cooperative Societies that have linked their rice businesses together: 4 Agriculture Cooperative Societies, the Taxi Cooperative Society, 4 Bus Administration Cooperative Societies, and The Domiciles Cooperative Society.


Ethanol project to be put on national agenda

The chief adviser to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra revealed that the PM will push forward a plan to develop ethanol as an alternative energy source and would put it on the national agenda.

The prime minister’s chief advisor Sanoh Thienthong said after a meeting with his fellow advisers, that the meeting lent its support to the ethanol production plan because it would not only save Thailand on imported energy bills, but would also help rid the country of poverty, as the production needs raw materials from local farmers such as sugar cane and cassava.

‘’We will make this project a national agenda. This resource of alternative energy will be plentiful and sustainable. It will also help better the life of Thai farmers, as they can sell their sugar cane and cassava to the ethanol production plants at guaranteed prices,’’ Sanoh said, adding that the use of ethanol would not negatively affect car engines. (TNA)