BUSINESS 
HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]: 

Finance Ministry offers 6.4 percent return on new bond issue

Government will not allow new bus fare hike until year-end

Thailand selected as first ‘partner country’ of ANUGA world fair

Top banker warns of economic volatility next year

94% of Northern Thais affected by bloodstream toxins

Budget for state energy saving campaigns in 2006 set at Bt 2 billion

Thailand tops list of foreign investors in Lao PDR

Finance Ministry offers 6.4 percent return on new bond issue

The Finance Ministry has offered an annual interest rate of 6.4 percent for its seven-year saving bonds to be issued for the 2006 fiscal year, saying general interest rates are trending higher.

Pannee Sathavarodom, director of the Public Debt Management Office, said the ministry had issued two lots of saving bonds worth five billion baht each for fiscal 2005. One, issued in August, had a maturity of seven years and an annual interest rate of 5.4 percent, while the other had a maturity of five years and was issued in September at 5.25 percent.

The ministry’s new seven-year, 6.4 percent bond issue will be worth two billion baht and is expected to be attractive to investors because of the higher rate on offer. The bonds will go on sale at every branch of the Kasikorn Bank nationwide from October 14-25. She conceded interest rates were trending upwards, making it possible for the ministry to offer higher returns on its next bond issue.

The director advised interested investors not to hesitate and miss the opportunity to buy because no one knows what the Bank of Thailand will do to control interest rate movements. The timing, return and other details of new bond issues depend on market conditions, inflation and short-term interest rates, she said. Higher inflation would mean higher interest rates, but she said interest rates would not be raised too high because it would affect lending for new investments. (TNA)


Government will not allow new bus fare hike until year-end

The government will not allow a new bus fare rise until the end of this year, Deputy Transport Minister Gen. Chainant Charoensiri announced.

A new hike on public bus fares would only add more burdens to passengers already suffering higher costs of living and rising inflation, Gen. Chainant said.

“The Ministry of Transport has a clear policy not to allow fare increases of all public buses until the end of this year to ease passengers’ burdens,” he told journalists.

Representatives of private bus operators met the deputy transport minister Monday afternoon to submit a demand for the new fare rise, citing higher fuel costs as the reason for the need to do so. They asked that the fare for non-air conditioned city buses be raised by Bt 1, from the current Bt. 7 to Bt. 8 throughout a route, while that of air-conditioned buses be raised by Bt. 2 for a fixed distance and van buses by Bt. 5 throughout a route.

Private bus operators threatened to raise their fares unilaterally from October 19 unless the Ministry of Transport officially approves their demand for the new fare rise.

Earlier, operators of cross-province bus services also asked for a new fare increase, citing the same reason. (TNA)


Thailand selected as first ‘partner country’ of ANUGA world fair

Thailand has been selected as the first ‘Partner Country’ of KoelnMesse, the Cologne Exhibition Center in Germany, which is the organizer of ‘ANUGA’ fair, the world’s most important trade fair for food and beverages.

Director-General of the Department of Export Promotion Chantra Purnariksha on Tuesday signed an agreement with KoelnMesse’s top executive in Cologne on the designation of Thailand as the first ‘Partner Country’ of the ANUGA bi-annual fair.

The agreement followed last year’s deal between the Department of Export Promotion and KoelnMesse in Bangkok, in which the Cologne Exhibition Center was designated as an allied partner of THAIFEX & HALFEX fair.

With this agreement, Thai food and beverage products and Thai tourism and investment will be specially promoted at the next ANUGA fair in 2007, according to Chantra.

Privileges on exhibition spaces and publicity would also be provided to Thai booths at the ANUGA fair, she noted.

“KoelnMesse cooperates with several countries; so the selection of Thailand as its first ‘Partner Country’ for the ANUGA fair is pleasant news for the Thai kingdom indeed,” she told TNA after signing the agreement.

Chantra said entrepreneurs of 112 Thai food and beverage businesses participated in this year’s ANUGA fair, with total trade value expected to reach Bt14 billion. About Bt 4 billion were products sold or orders already placed by foreign food and beverage importers during the fair and the rest are in the process of negotiations. (TNA)


Top banker warns of economic volatility next year

The Thai economy will be able to maintain its growth of 4 percent next year, but will remain volatile amidst inflationary pressure, according to a top banker.

Kosit Panpiemras, Bangkok Bank’s executive chairman said on Sunday that the country’s economy would continue to grow in the next 8-9 months, or through the first half of next year.

The Thai economy would manage to expand at 4 percent, but its stability would remain fragile due to high inflation rates, he projected.

At present, he said, economies of major countries such as the United States and China are still growing satisfactorily. However, the US needs to raise interest rates further to prevent a possible economic bubble burst. This could affect economies around the world and dampen private consumption and investment.

“Despite uncertainties, the Thai economy will be able to sustain growth. The country’s economic growth this year will be lower than that of last year, but enjoy more stability,” he said.

On interest rates, Dr. Kosit said, commercial banks had raised interest rates immediately after the Bank of Thailand (BOT) recently gave a signal on an upward interest adjustment. He projected that the interest rates would gradually increase upon the adjustment of monetary measures to put a brake on the economy.

He shared a comment made recently by Phatra Securities Public Company Limited’s President Supavuth Saicheu, saying that lending rates next year would stay at 7-8 percent, while deposit rates would be around 3-4 percent. (TNA)


94% of Northern Thais affected by bloodstream toxins

Clinical studies show that 94 percent of Thailand’s northern villagers have toxins in their blood due to the unhygienic foods which they have consumed.

Often idealized as hardy and healthy, the vast majority of northern country folk carry many debilitating chemical residues. Dr. Supakorn Buasai, manager of Thailand Health Promotion Foundation, cited a Disease Control Department survey of almost 1,700 Chiang Mai residents between August 2004 and September 2005 showing that the blood in their bloodstreams was contaminated with varied toxins at alarming levels. In most cases, the villagers were believed to have consumed vegetables and fruit that retained chemical pesticide residues or other contaminants. In addition, more than 100,000 children nationwide were found to have suffered from diarrhea and food poisoning which continues to occur at an alarming rate. Of the cases reported, 51 percent of the patients were in the Northeast, followed by 24 percent in the North, 19 percent in the Central region and four percent in the South.

Dr. Sopon Mekthon, deputy director general of the Health Department, said that foods such as meat could be contaminated by bleach, formalene, anti-fungal preparations and overuse of cooking oil, but such incidents had declined in domestic markets nationwide. However, a high degree of pesticides remained in kale and long-stemmed beans, vegetables that are a common part of the daily diet.

The Fund for Health-Building Promotion has not only contributed to the Thai Food for World Kitchen campaign, but also launched a food safety project, nutritional foods, and stability in food supplies programs.

The Foundation has allocated a Bt 300 million (US$ 7.5 million) budget to be used for several years on its food projects.

The World Health Organization has set Oct 16 as World Food Day, also observed by Thailand and 183 other WHO member countries. (TNA)


Budget for state energy saving campaigns in 2006 set at Bt 2 billion

The government has earmarked an initial budget of Bt 2 billion for state energy saving campaigns in the new 2006 fiscal year.

The budget is part of the government’s total Bt 8 billion energy conservation promotional fund, according to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-Ngam.

The planned energy conservation campaigns for this 2006 fiscal year, which began on October 1, include advertisements on the local media and rewards to energy saving winners, namely students, janitors and agencies.

A government panel overseeing the fund, chaired by Wissanu, has also agreed to provide a Bt 2 billion loan to the country’s petroleum giant, PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), to be used for the promotion of natural gas vehicles (NGV) among local motorists. (TNA)


Thailand tops list of foreign investors in Lao PDR

Thailand was the largest-scale foreign investor in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic for the first nine months of this year. Chalermpon Pongchabubnapa, Thai commercial counselor in Vientiane said that from January to September this year, Thailand topped the list of foreign investors in Laos, with its approved investment in 25 of the country’s major projects amounting to US$ 450 million (Bt 18,430 million), or 36 percent of total investment. Ranking after Thailand on the list are France, Vietnam, Australia and South Korea.

Promotions for foreign investment has mostly been made in generating electricity, which accounts for 85 percent of total investment, while the balance of investments have gone into mining, agriculture, handicraft, hotels, restaurants, wood industry, construction, and textiles.

This year’s total foreign investment has increased 133 percent, compared to last year’s total foreign investment of US$ 533 million (Bt.21.3 billion) (TNA)