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Thai baht appreciates by 7.4%
The Thai baht has appreciated by 7.4 per cent since the
end of last year, a level comparable to other Asian currencies, according to
the Bank of Thailand (BOT).
BOT Governor M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula said that the Thai and other
currencies in the Asian region are moving toward the equilibrium, sustaining
export competitiveness of the Asian economies at a similar level.
“The Thai baht has now appreciated by 7.4 per cent against the US dollar,
from about 9 per cent earlier; while the Japanese yen and the Korean won
have equally strengthened by 7 per cent,” he told journalists.
“On average, the Asian currencies have appreciated by 5-7 per cent since the
end of last year,” he noted.
The euro has, however, strengthened by 8.19 per cent over the same period
and the Pound Sterling by 9.28 per cent, according to the BOT chief. (TNA)
Thailand targets becoming regional food exhibition hub
The Department of Export Promotion opened a five-day Thai
food exhibition last week, aiming to attract more foreign investors into the
country’s food industry and to push for higher export value on Thai food and
beverage products, as well as related services.
Caretaker Deputy Commerce Minister Preecha Laohapongchana told reporters
after opening the exhibition at the IMPACT Trade and Exhibition Centre in
Muang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok that the THAIFEX -World of
Food Asia 2006 would help demonstrate Thailand’s potential in the food and
beverage industry to potential foreign investors, as well as to promote the
consumption of local food products among Thai consumers.
He said Thailand is now ranked 8th among the world’s top food exhibition
organisers and rates the second in Asia after Japan.
‘’This year’s exhibition is very important to help us reach our target in
food export, as there are both local and foreign food manufacturers
attending the exhibition and to hold trade talks. I expect to see the
exhibition help generate trade negotiations worth no less than US$1
billion,’’ Preecha said.
Thailand has hoped to see the export value in food and related services
reach a value of US$9.6 billion this year.
The deputy commerce minister affirmed that foreign investors have not lost
confidence in Thailand’s economy despite the ongoing political stalemate:
‘’From talking to investors, they are not worried about Thailand’s political
problems and they are all confident in the Thai economy,’’ Mr. Preecha said.
(TNA)
Saudi Arabia signs health agreements with two Thai hospitals
A major Saudi Arabian hygienic firm has signed agreements
with two Thai private hospitals aimed at making Thailand a health service
center for Saudi Arabians.
Memoranda of understanding were signed in Bangkok May 19, between Mazen M.
Batterjee, vice president of Saudi Arabia’s Al Batterjee Group, with senior
executives of Phya Thai and Bangkok Hospitals.
Under the accords, the two Thai private hospitals will provide health
services to Saudi Arabians who presently prefer to travel to the US and
Europe and take services from hospitals there.
Chantra Purnariksha, Director General of the Ministry of Commerce’s
Department of Export Promotion (DEP), said Saudi Arabia is now a major
pharmaceutical and medical equipment buyer. The country has a population of
about 25 million, which is expected to nearly double to 47 million in 2020,
meaning that public health services will also grow to cater to the needs of
the people.
This year, the Saudi Arabian government has allocated some US$9 billion to
the local health sector.
Health expenses of its people receiving medical treatment in the United
Kingdom and Germany alone total about US$1 billion annually, Chantra said,
adding that Dubai is now also trying to become a health care service
providing center, while Lebanon is becoming recognized as a center
specialising in plastic surgery.
As medical fees in Thailand are less expensive than the US and Europe, with
comparable standards of service, the Al Batterjee Group has decided to join
in a business relationship with the two Thai hospitals. (TNA)
Oil prices fuel
‘Back to the Buffalo’
Thai farmers movement
(Ubon Ratchathani) - Farmers in this northeastern
Thai province across the Mekong River from Laos are preparing to raise more
cattle and buffaloes as soaring oil prices have wrecked havoc on their
incomes. Here in Ubon, farmers are ready to return to their traditional
plough ‘driver’ - the venerable water buffalo, which also benefits their
fields as a walking fertiliser producer/distributor, a friend at work who
can be talked to and who does not often break down.
The energy crisis is costing rural Thais their incomes and here they want
the government to help them return to the ‘old ways’ of producing buffaloes
to draw their ploughs.
Chairman Kampuang Tattiam of Samrong District’s cattle-producers’ network
said his group now has 17 prime buffaloes and plans to breed more buffaloes
for local farmers, who like him and his companions, are suffering from the
sharp increase in oil prices.
Currently, each farmer in Samrong earns less than Bt10,000 per six-rai plot
of paddy field and the farmers are ready to switch from using gasoline or
diesel-run machines and go back to their buffaloes to prepare the fields for
rice planting.
Kampuang urged the government to render assistance as it would, nonetheless,
take an amount of time to re-educate some farmers to accept the idea even
though it can be shown to be practical, both for them and for the country.
A local agricultural machinery dealer said sales of tractors for ploughing
had fallen some 10 per cent due to the declining incomes of farmers and
severe drought in the previous rice planting season. (TNA)
Retail oil prices unlikely to surpass Bt30 per liter, says energy minister
Caretaker Energy Minister Viset Choopiban has expressed
confidence that retail fuel prices on the domestic market will not surpass
Bt30 per litre, despite the tension between the United States and Iran over
nuclear concerns and the supply and demand in the marketplace.
He said the nuclear stand-off between the United States and Iran, focusing
on Iran’s push to gain nuclear fuel production capacity, appeared to have
not deteriorated further at the present time.
The supply and demand relationship on the domestic oil market remains in
balance, he said, since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) could produce some 30.4 million barrels per day, while the demand
stands at around 29 million barrels.
Furthermore, he said, worldwide demand for diesel had declined as the more
heavily populated northern hemisphere countries have now moved into the
summer months. At the same time, oil reserves in the US have not fallen by
any marked degree.
Because of this, he believes that local fuel prices will continue to stay
high, but will not surpass Bt30 per liter as many have feared.
Viset stated that the government strategy is to develop alternative energy
sources to reduce dependence on fuel imports by setting a target to increase
the ratio of alternative energy consumption from 0.5 per cent at present to
8 per cent by 2011.
The ministry plans to accelerate promoting the development of alternative
energy sources, such as solar, hydro and wind power and bio-energy, in a
concrete manner. (TNA)
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