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Real estate business still has room for growth
Thailand’s real estate business still has room for
growth next year, but an increase in household debts against savings is
likely to deter the business growth in the medium term, according to the
Kasikorn Research Center (KRC).
The leading think tank said in a report on “Real Estate
Business Direction in 2005 and Increasing Number of Negative Factors” that
the local real estate business had expanded satisfactorily this year albeit
at a slower pace than last year. It projected the number of completely built
real estates in Bangkok and its environs this year would reach 54,000-56,000
units, representing a growth rate of 7-10%, compared with 48.7% last year.
Next year, the demand for real estates would depend on
many factors, including fuel prices, building material prices, interest
rates, and stock market conditions, the report said. However, KRC believes
the overall market will be stable, with the number of completely built real
estates close to those of this year.
KRC said it did not expect the business would experience
an oversupply of new houses as long as the purchase of the real estates
stems from real demand. Still, what could affect the business now was is
continued increase in household debts, while savings had significantly
dropped. KRC stated that the trend, if persistent, would impede the
country’s real estate business growth in the medium term. (TNA)
Beer garden business continues to slow
The slowdown in the beer garden business this year, which
began early in November and will continue until early next year, appears to
be due to a decline in people’s purchasing power following a recent oil
price hike, according to the Kasikorn Research Center (KRC).
KRC stated the decline is also attributed to more fierce
competition, as new operators have entered the business. Other negative
factors include the ongoing outbreak of avian flu and the spate of violent
unrest in the country’s southern provinces. These issues have also
prompted many people to start saving, as they are worried about their
incomes in future. (TNA)
MOI wants operational strategies mapped out
Representatives from nine independent institutes under
the Ministry of Industry (MOI), including administrators, senior officials
and academics, recently held a workshop aimed at promoting their
self-reliance through improved management strategies and brainstorming ideas
on restructuring these institutes so that they can implement the
ministry’s projects at ease in the next four years, starting from 2005.
Industry Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal said, “The
representatives of the nine institutes were asked during the workshop to
present their operational strategies for the next four years with the focus
on developing industries in the form of clusters which could meet the
objectives of the ministry.
Each institute was asked to map out their own
administrative frameworks with an aim to provide direct services to the
public, while the government would only give support, Pongsak said.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary for Industry, Chakramon
Phasukavanich, said the workshop also gave opportunities to all the nine
institutes to air problems faced by them so that remedies could be made, and
to discuss ways to assist private industrial operators.
The nine agencies include the Food Institute, the Textile
Institute, the Steel Institute, the Institute for the Development of Small
and Medium-sized enterprises, the Automobile Institute, the Electrical and
Electronic Institute, the Thai-German institute, the ISO Institute and the
National Productivity Institute. (TNA)
Exports to hit US$200 billion within 4 years
Thailand’s export revenue could hit an annual US$200
billion within the next four years, deputy commerce minister Anutin
Charnvirakul recently forecast.
Speaking after opening the 17th Made in Thailand Fair at
the Impact Convention Center on November 14, Anutin said that strategies to
penetrate new and existing markets looked set to boost Thailand’s export
revenue from around US$97 billion this year to as much as US$200 billion by
2008. Noting that Thai products had won growing acceptance among foreign
buyers above the past decade, he said that from next year, the government
aimed to achieve annual export growth of at least 15 percent. This year
export growth is expected to stand at 22 percent.
Over 1,000 companies are exhibiting at this year’s Made
in Thailand Fair, with export-quality goods ranging from clothing to
furniture. This year nearly 100 million baht was expected to circulate
during the course of the week-long event.
Thailand’s continuing export drive will enter a new
phase this month, with a delegation led by Pranpree Phahitthanukorn,
vice-minister for commerce, traveling to the United States to discuss the
establishment of Thailand Marketplace and Thailand Plaza projects in the US.
The Department of Export Promotion is currently studying possible locations
for the projects, which would allow US residents to purchase a range of Thai
goods under one roof. (TNA)
Labor Ministry expects a quarter million Thais to lose jobs next year
The Ministry of Labor has forecast that over a quarter
million Thais may become unemployed next year, and has prepared measures to
cope with the situation. Permanent Secretary for Labor Jaruphong Ruengsuwan
said the ministry has begun a scheme to monitor employment and job creating
with guidelines and alarm mechanisms for workers for the year 2005.
Jaruphong said that factors have indicated that about
220,000 Thai workers under the government’s social insurance program
nationwide might be laid off, or lose their jobs in the year 2005. He said
the ministry has identified seven industries which carry a risk for many
businesses to close down, namely the food process and animal feeding
industry, the textiles and garment industry, the tourism and catering
industry, the automobile and parts industry, the electrical and electronic
industry, the wood and furniture industry, and the metal and steel industry.
Jaruphong said the ministry has looked for measures to
prevent the unemployment by offering helps to increase competitiveness of
these industries, and to provide occupational training to workers to help
them find other jobs. (TNA)
EXIM bank to assist
Thai restaurants abroad
The Export and Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Bank)
recently unveiled an assistance package for Thai restaurants abroad, with
the aim of creating 15,000 new restaurant owners within the next four years.
Speaking at the ‘Thai Food to the World’ fair on
November 17, EXIM Bank President Sataporn Jinachitra noted that Thai cuisine
had become the fourth most popular in the world, earning the country around
30 billion each year. He said the government hopes that by 2008, the number
of Thai restaurants abroad will have swelled from the present 6,954 to
20,000, with Thai restaurants acting as marketing channels for One Tambon
One Product (OTOP) goods and Thai tourism.
The EXIM Bank is supporting the creation of goods
distribution centers to export Thai food in conjunction with the Small and
Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand. In addition, the bank is
offering loans to Thai restaurant and food export businesses, and acting as
the guarantor of loans secured by restaurant businesses abroad.
The government hopes that in the next three years,
Thailand will make it onto the world’s list of top five food exporters,
through the expansion of both existing and new markets. Food exports
currently earn Thailand around 470 billion baht each year, with an annual
growth rate of 13 percent. Last year exports of spices and condiments alone
were worth 5 billion baht. (TNA)
Bank loans continue to grow in 3rd quarter
Lending by commercial banks continued to grow in the
third quarter of this year, driven by loans extended to business,
production, housing, wholesale and retail sectors, according to the Bank of
Thailand (BOT).
The central bank reported as of the end of September the
outstanding loans in the banking system totaled 5.22 trillion baht, compared
with 4.98 trillion baht as of the end of the second quarter of this year.
Of this, 4.69 trillion baht were extended by local banks
and the remaining 515.69 billion baht by foreign banks.
Loans provided for the production sector enjoyed the
highest growth, with the outstanding loans amount of 1.44 trillion baht,
followed by loans of 920.78 billion baht for transportation, retails,
vehicle repairs, purchase of personal belongings, and household products.
Consumer loans came third with the outstanding loans of
805.38 billion baht, and financing loans ranked fourth with 667.84 billion,
followed by loans for property development and services (401.16 billion),
agriculture 94.45 billion, electricity, gas, and tap water production (96.36
billion), and construction (155.09 billion).
The BOT attributed the lending growth in almost all
industrial sectors to the country’s continued economic expansion. In
particular, loans extended to the production and housing sectors had
markedly grown along with the economic growth. (TNA)
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