|
EU expresses desire to strengthen ties with Thailand
The European Union has expressed a wish to cement its
relationship with Thailand, amid continuing concern among Thai academics
that the existing relationship structure is fraught with possibilities for
misunderstanding.
Addressing a seminar on Thai-EU trade, Friedrich
Hamburger, head of the European Commission delegation in Thailand, spoke of
the ‘extremely good’ relationship between the two areas.
Trade between Thailand and the EU was valued at around
Bt600 billion last year, making the EU one of Thailand’s major trading
partners.
But over the past year, all has not been plain sailing in
trade relationships, and Thai fishermen, in particular, have been putting
pressure on the EU to return Thailand’s trade privilege status under the
generalised system of preference (GSP), a move which the EU appears to have
agreed to.
If the move is endorsed by EU member states, Thailand
will see the return of GSP for its fisheries products, ready-made food and
beverages, rubber and plastic products, leather products, shoes, electrical
goods and canned tuna as early as September 1 this year.
But what the EU now wants, according to Hamburger, is to
strengthen its ties with Thailand to encompass new fields such as education.
The closer relationship will be exemplified later this
month when the two areas hold a joint meeting on small and medium-sized
enterprises, expected to be attended by 200-250 European and 300 Thai
companies.
The EU has also indicated that it could back down on
strict regulations concerning chicken exports, and that while it remains
concerned over avian flu, it will not use this as an obstacle to the growth
of bilateral cooperation.
But academics pointed towards new areas to branch out
into bilateral cooperation if Thailand and the EU were to avoid some of the
misunderstandings that have plagued their relationship in the past.
Dr. Somchai Pholphaswiwat, a politics lecturer at
Thammasat University, spoke of the need to expand into areas such as tourism
and the transfer of technology to Thai SMEs, while calling on the EU to
reform its common agricultural policy (CAP).
He also stressed that Thailand should allow time to catch
up with its richer EU trading partners, and that careful negotiations are
needed to reduce differences and misunderstandings. (TNA)
Gov’t revenues expected to meet target this year
The government’s tax revenues from the Revenue
Department are expected to meet their target in this 2005 fiscal year, as
the department’s tax collection in the first seven months has exceeded
what was earlier targeted by more than Bt41 billion, according to the
director-general of the revenue department, Sirote Sawasdipanich.
Sirote told TNA that he believed the department’s tax
collection throughout this 2005 fiscal year would reach Bt820 billion as
targeted.
“This is because in the first seven months of this
fiscal year, or from October 2004 to April 2005, the department has
collected Bt420.72 billion in tax revenues, exceeding its earlier target by
up to Bt41.38 billion, or 10.9 percent,” he noted.
“The department’s tax revenues have increased amid
the country’s economic slowdown, like several other countries, due to
negative factors, particularly the global oil price hike,” he added.
Sirote said he also believes that the department’s tax
revenues in the 2006 fiscal year, which begins on October 1, 2005, would
also meet the government’s target of Bt1.009 trillion.
The government has reportedly set its expenditure budget
for the 2006 fiscal year at Bt1.36 billion, targeting that its total
revenues from tax collection of the Revenue, Customs and Excise Departments
could reach Bt1.009 trillion, Bt120.4 billion and Bt312.5 billion
respectively.
The government also hopes to have Bt64.6 billion more in
revenue from state enterprises and Bt11 billion from the privatization of
some state enterprises next fiscal year. (TNA)
Money Expo 2005 makes more than Bt 55 billion
Thailand’s Money Expo 2005, which ended on Sunday,
generated more than 55 billion baht worth of business transactions,
according to the event’s organiser.
More than 600,000 people visited the four-day fair, the
event’s chief organiser, Santi Viriyarangsarit, told TNA.
“In the first three days, more than 400,000 visitors
attended the country’s Fifth Money Expo. People flocked on the last day;
so we are likely to exceed our target of 600,000 visitors,” he told TNA
just before the event closed.
Money Expo 2005 was held at the Queen Sirikit National
Convention Centre in Bangkok May 19-22.
Banks and financial institutes, securities firms, mutual
funds and insurance companies all participated in the financial fair.
During the fair local banks offered 46 billion baht in
housing loans, nearly 10 billion baht in loans to small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) and a billion baht in personal loans, Santi said. (TNA)
Thailand interested in South Korea’s sophisticated IT
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has expressed an
interest in the sophisticated information technology (IT) used by the South
Korean government.
“Seoul has used more sophisticated IT in its
bureaucracy and is now called a ‘U government’ - meaning that it is a
government which fully utilises multi-IT in its administration to serve the
public efficiently and transparently. I’m quite impressed by its
progress,” the premier told TNA after delivering a keynote speech at the
6th Global Forum on Reinventing Government in Seoul, the South Korean
capital, on Tuesday.
“Thailand will continue to develop computer software
which suits the Thai bureaucracy and best serves the Thai people,” he
promised.
Thaksin was on an official visit to South Korea May
23-25, accompanied by several cabinet ministers and senior government
officials, including Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon and minister
attached to the office of the prime minister, Suranand Vejjajiva.
The Thai prime minister held bilateral talks with the
leaders of Tajikistan, Iran, South Korea and Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
The forum ended around noon, after which the Thai leader
and other participants attended a luncheon hosted by the South Korean
government. (TNA)
Thailand set to benefit from Chinese currency appreciation
The current pressure on the Chinese currency spells good
news for Thailand, giving its export sector a competitive edge, the head of
the Stock Exchange of Thailand said.
With investors across the region keeping a close watch on
the currency standoff between China and the US, Kittirat Na Ranong predicted
that China would eventually have to strengthen the value of the renminbi in
order to maintain global economic balance.
The US Treasury has warned China that unless it floats
its currency, currently pegged to the dollar, it will be accused of
manipulating exchange rates.
But Kittirat said that with a stronger currency, China
would increasing be forced to turn to domestic consumption, rather than the
export sector, as the main engine of economic growth. This would give
Thailand’s export sector a distinct advantage, as it would no longer have
to face such stiff competition from cheap Chinese goods.
The SET president, who was addressing investors and
members of the public at Money Expo ’05, also shrugged off concern over
Thailand’s current account deficit, saying that the current account
balance should continue in the red for several more months in order to allow
for the import of machinery and goods needed for government infrastructure
projects designed to stimulate the economy.
Noting that Thailand had previously enjoyed a current
account surplus for eight consecutive years, he said that a minor deficit
was not a matter for concern.
He also appealed to investors not to base their
investment decisions on gut feelings, but to look rationally at the
situation. Now, he said, is the perfect time to invest, as shares are cheap,
while the nation’s various economic problems are in the process of being
solved. (TNA)
Thailand to step up search for new markets
Thailand plans to set up trade teams to try to increase
Thailand’s exports, especially to China, Deputy Foreign Minister Preecha
Laohapongchana told TNA.
Thailand is planning a new and aggressive trade strategy
to help further penetrate foreign markets, Preecha said.
“Thailand Teams” will be set up to push the export of
Thai products, especially to China, he added.
“China is a giant market and Thai investors should
establish joint-ventures with Chinese counterparts and build centers to
distribute Thai products across China,” he said.
Thailand must move now and not later if it wants to
increase its exports to China, the minister said.
“I believe China will have an excellent goods
distribution system within the next five years. We must seek China’s
cooperation now before it is too late. However, we must not forget that we
must also improve the standards of our products,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has raised its target for Thai
fruit and vegetable exports to China to US$40 billion by 2011, from US$30
billion.
The country’s fruit and vegetable exports to the
Chinese market are likely to reach US$25 billion this year, according to the
Ministry of Commerce. (TNA)
Thailand wins sugar war with EU
Thailand vowed to boost sugar exports after the World
Trade Organization (WTO)’s Dispute Settlement Board upheld a complaint by
major sugar-producing nations against European Union (EU) subsidies to its
sugar farmers.
Thailand, which had teamed up with Australia and Brazil
to fight the EU subsidies, is now celebrating after an EU indication that it
would accept the WTO’s decision despite not agreeing with it.
The decision forces the EU to discuss with the
sugar-producing nations a timetable for ending its subsidies to sugar
farmers, which the sugar-producing countries said violated WTO regulations.
Under WTO rules, the EU now has 90 days to come up with a
timetable, and 15 months in which to end the subsidies.
Mrs. Phuangrat Assawabhisit, Thailand’s ambassador to
the WTO, hailed the decision as good news for Thailand, as it would edge up
global sugar prices and enable Thailand to expand its sugar exports. (TNA)
PM calls for race to
reduce fuel imports
The urgency of Thailand’s drive to conserve energy was
hammered last week by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who used his weekly
radio address to the nation to order all government agencies to search for
ways to reduce fuel imports.
Describing Thailand as having been ‘severely injured’
by energy costs, the prime minister noted that the bulk of Thailand’s
trade deficit is attributable to fuel imports.
The time had come, he said, for a thorough overhaul of
energy policy.
Revealing that he had established a team dedicated to the
search for reducing fuel imports, he warned that world fuel prices were
continuing to be volatile.
Last week the cabinet approved a Ministry of Energy
three-point energy plan, which focuses on the use of alternative fuel, the
search for domestic fuel sources, and the generation of added value for
domestic energy resources.
Under the ministry’s energy ‘road map’, the
government will pull out all stops to promote gasohol, biodiesel and NGV as
alternatives to conventional fuel. (TNA)
Gov’t to control credit card
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that the
government planned to establish guidelines for the use of credit cards
because of his concern about future individual debt and non-performing loans
(NPLs).
Deputy prime minister and finance minister, Somkid
Jatusripitak, and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) governor, M.R. Pridiyathorn
Devakula, are studying the issue of credit cards by banks and non-bank
institutions, the prime minister said during his weekly radio broadcast last
week.
Competition between credit card companies is fierce and
proper screening of the occupations and income of the cardholders are not
carried out, Thaksin said.
It is very risky for someone to hold several credit cards
at the same time. A government study is needed to avoid overspending by the
credit card holders and NPLs, he added. (TNA)
|
