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Mega-projects will not affect Thailand’s economic stability
Thai Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya on Thursday assured
foreign investors in London that state-supported mega-projects and higher
inflation rates would not affect the country’s economic stability.
Speaking after a seminar of investors in the 2nd ASEAN
Finance Ministers’ Meeting in the capital of the United Kingdom, he said
foreign investors had paid attention to the Thai economy, particularly the
planned implementation of the mega-projects.
Dr. Thanong said he notified them that all ministries
concerned were considering the projects at a final stage.
The Finance Ministry was supervising the investment
amount of the projects to ensure it does not exceed 1.7 trillion baht as
targeted.
He said the investment amount might decrease in some
projects, depending on the ministries’ discretion.
He affirmed that the total investment amount would not
exceed 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). At
present, the country’s savings stand at 32- 33 percent of GDP, which is
considered balanced with the investment level.
Some foreign investors had enquired about higher
inflation rates and so obtained the Bank of Thailand (BOT)’s clarification
that the rise in inflation rate stems from surging oil prices.
The BOT affirmed that the core inflation rate remains
low, and that the central bank would oversee the rate to ensure it does not
exceed 2.5 percent.
The BOT also believes that the inflation rates will
decline next year when fuel prices are anticipated to drop. (TNA)
Jetstar Asia starts Phuket route from October
Jetstar Asia will operate four weekly flights to Phuket
every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting October 25.
Ticket sales started on September 20 at a special launch
fare of S$22 (Bt. 520 ; US$13) for travel up to December 15, after which
fares will start from S$48.
Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and
Philippines, Eumporn Jiragalwisul said: “The new flights are indeed timely
to give the Andaman area a higher capacity for tourist arrivals in the
upcoming high season.” (TTG Asia)
Application for buildings
in city surges in 1st half
of this year
The application for the construction of buildings no more
than six stories high in the city surged by 380 percent to 600 units in the
first half of this year, according to the Government Housings Bank’s Real
Estate Information Center.
Pongsak Chivacharat, director of the center, disclosed it
had surveyed rented houses, dormitories, and apartments no more than six
stories high in Bangkok and its environs in the first half of this year.
It found that applications for the construction of these
buildings rose sharply to 600 units covering a total area of 557,504 square
meters. There were applications for only 120 units in the same period last
year.
The surge in applications stem from the expansion of many
industries. People who work in industrial factories want to rent apartments
near the plants. The trend signaled that the country’s economy is
recovering.
He said the center was closely monitoring the housing
rental business to support the information.
The center found the number of newly registered houses in
Bangkok and its environs totaled 30,366 units in the January-May period. Of
this, 19,464 units are single houses.
He added that loans extended by the bank to property
developers in the first quarter of this year totaled 6.99 billion baht
compared with 12.24 billion in the same period the year before.
He conceded that the increase in interest rates might
have affected lending to housing projects. (TNA)
TNP launches chilled water plant
Thai National Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
U.K. publicly listed International Power Plc. has formally launched its
District Cooling System supplying chilled water for air conditioning and
process cooling to industrial manufacturers from its Small Power Producer
(SSP) plant on the Siam Eastern Industrial Park at Rayong. The new facility,
which represents an investment in excess of 200m baht, utilizes steam fired
absorption chillers newly installed at the plant.
At the
auspicious moment, Thamrong Mahajchariyawong, H.E. David Fall, Anantachai
Kunanantakul and Michel Baker, press the button to officially launch the
plant.
The formal launch on September 14, was presided over by
the British Ambassador to Thailand, H.E. David Fall; the Siam Eastern
Industrial Park President, Senator Anantachai Kunanantakul; the Secretary
General of the Board of Investment, Mr. Thamrong Mahajchariyawong, Deputy
Secretary General of the Board of Investment.
The first two manufacturers taking advantage of the
chilled water are Mitsubishi Electric Thai Autoparts and Polyplex.
Thai National Power Country Manager and CEO, Michael Baker said, “The
project is a key part of Thai National Power expansion plans and is
indicative of a strong commitment to continuing investment in Thailand by
International Power. The company is in the process of investing in excess of
900 million baht at the site. This investment includes the district-cooling
scheme, capacity upgrades to the existing facility and additional power
generation. We will start construction soon on a 22.4 MW power expansion
project at the site.”
Samut Prakan becomes first province to ban cigarette ads
A downtown road in a province near Bangkok has become
Thailand’s first place where cigarette advertising is prohibited, while
the country’s nationwide campaign took effect on September 24.
Deputy Disease Control Department Director General Dr.
Narong Sahamethapat, who along with provincial and health officials visited
18 grocery stores in Narai Prapsuek Road in Muang District on Wednesday,
said that those retail shops are good examples for 500,000 others throughout
the country to follow suit.
7-Eleven convenience stores along with those at major gas
stations pledged to join the campaign by taking all packs of cigarettes off
their shelves behind the cashiers after midnight of September 23.
US tobacco firms are believed to pour as much as Bt250
billion (US$ 6 billion) on cigarette ads each year, while the average
grocery store in Thailand is known to have been paid Bt30,000-40,000
annually (US$750-$1000) for displaying cigarette ads.
Dr. Narong quoted a recent survey that said 60 percent of
adolescents under the age of 18 wanted to buy cigarettes due to the ads at
selling points. 9 percent admitted that they just wanted to try out of
curiosity, compared to 49 percent of adults who did so for similar reasons.
Shop-owners who keep cigarette ads at their selling
points will first be given a verbal warning and then a written warning.
Those failing to withdraw advertising thereafter will be
legally punished with a maximum fine of Bt 200,000 (US$5,000).
The campaign will be evaluated at one to three month
intervals. (TNA)
Temporary lifting of ethyl alcohol import duty for gasohol use
The Finance Ministry has issued an order temporarily
lifting an import tariff for ethyl alcohol to be used in producing gasohol
on the condition that it must be imported between September 24 and December
31 and is not more than 17.82 million litres.
Chaiyot Sasomsub, deputy finance minister, has ordered a
tariff exemption for ethyl alcohol, which has an alcohol content exceeding
99.50 percent. It must only be used for the production of gasohol.
Sales of gasohol used by motorists in Thailand have
increased sharply. Daily consumption of gasohol in August stood at 2.27
million litres, a significant increase from average daily consumption of
0.28 million litres in January this year.
The Energy Ministry has fixed the gasohol retail price at 1.50 bt/litre
less than premium gasoline in an attempt to encourage more motorists to
switch to using the alternative energy. (TNA)
State enterprises union rallied against privatization
Labor unions of state enterprises kicked off a major
campaign to oppose any move to privatize state enterprises by listing them
on the stock market.
To mark the Thai State Enterprise Day today, over 1,000
members of state enterprises union representatives rallied in front of the
Democracy Monument and issued a strong message against privatization.
The move comes amidst the high profile public offering of
the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) later this month.
Sirichai Mai-ngam, secretary-general of the Federation of
State Enterprises Union said the organization opposes any form of partial
privatization of all state enterprises attempted by the government because
the government lacks any sincerity in developing the enterprises it owns.
More importantly, once privatized, prices of public
utilities will surely rise. He cited electricity tariffs as an example.
The government’s objective is to rev up market
capitalization of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET); and thus it will
only privatize profitable enterprises while enterprises that lose money will
be left to fester.
The Federation plans to carry their campaign forward by
distributing letters in front of US, UK, and Singapore missions in an
attempt to inform institutional investors from these countries that the
government’s approach to privatization is undemocratic, said Sirichai.
(TNA)
August update from AirAsia
AirAsia Wednesday said it and its associates flew a total
of 591,974 seats in August 2005, contributing to a 27.9 percent increase
from the 463,016 earned seats flown in August 2004.
For the month ended August 31, the Malaysian-based
low-cost carrier flew 389,054 earned seats, compared to 336,021 earned seats
recorded for the same period of 2004, an increase of 15.8 percent.
Meanwhile, its Thai operations, Thai AirAsia registered 155,727 earned
seats, compared to 126,995 recorded for the same period in 2004, an increase
of 22.6 percent, and, AWAIR, its Indonesian venture, recorded 47,193 earned
seats for August 2004, since operating in December 2004. (TTG Asia)
Japanese experts train Thai workers to compete with China, India
Japanese experts will give assistance in training Thai
workers, as well as transfer innovative technology to upgrade local
industries, said Suriya Jungrungreangkit, deputy prime minister and industry
minister.
Suriya’s remarks were made after his meeting with
senior officials of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).
He said his ministry has a clear policy regarding
cooperation with Japan on developing industries of the two countries,
especially the automobile, electric and electronics industries which receive
government support to use local raw materials and spare parts.
Under the cooperation program, Japan and Thailand would
exchange experts, particularly in engineering, and the former would send its
personnel to transfer technology so that Thai industry can grow on a
sustainable basis.
“The government will try to boost the efficiency of
Thai workers so that they can upgrade themselves and meet the market demand
which could eliminate comparison on wages with Chinese and Indian workers,
which are cheaper,” said Suriya.
He said the two countries also planned to cooperate in
promoting small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Japan will dispatch experts to transfer knowledge and
technology to Thais who join the program. Trainees will then have to
transfer knowledge they receive to business operators.
He said Thailand was now concentrating on upstream and downstream
industrial projects and there was still a large gap in between. He said his
ministry has planned to encourage more foreign investors, including Japanese
and Chinese, to invest in manufacturing electric and electronic products in
a bid to make Thailand a hub in the industry and also to create new
employment. (TNA)
Australians follow Thai rainbow to new gold mines
More Australian firms are expressing interest in
Thai-based gold mining ventures following possible government promotion
privileges.
Several Australian companies followed the proverbial
rainbow to Thailand where they did find gold.
Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit quoted
Australian Ambassador William Paterson and Senior Trade Commissioner Sean
Riley as saying senior Australian trade officials will visit to discuss
possible investments in the gold mining industry later this month.
Several Australian companies have expressed interest in
mining gold in Thailand, Suriya said, following the example of a few others
already here, Acra Mining Co. and Oxina Co. - currently operating gold mines
in Phichit and Phetchabun provinces. Australian-owned Niugini Mining Ltd has
also been part of Tongkah Harbour’s gold-extraction operations in Loei.
Jewelry and other goods will be made of gold to increase
its value as much as possible, the industry minister said, while imports of
the precious metal will be considerably reduced.
The Department of Primary Industries & Mines will consider granting
concessions in exchange for royalties which may account for 0.2 percent per
gold valued at Bt 50 million to 2,500 million (US$ 1.25 million to 62.5
million). The department will also lay out maps and zones for the mining
industry. (TNA)
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