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7% VAT for 2 more years; farm debts on hold 3 years

World Bank advisor visits Lampang’s OTOP scheme

Japanese, Indian investors ready to return to Thailand


7% VAT for 2 more years; farm debts on hold 3 years

In a bid to curtail rising inflation, Thailand’s Finance Ministry will propose to the cabinet a plan to maintain the current rate of value-added tax (VAT) at seven per cent for another two years and to provide a three-year debt suspension program for farmers whose debts do not exceed Bt100,000 each.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said after meeting board members of the ministry’s Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) last Friday that the Revenue Department had submitted economic stimulus measures including keeping VAT at the same level for at least two more years and possibly look to a rise after that.
Surapong also said that the debt suspension program for small-time farmers was necessary because about 330,000 borrowers, or 15 per cent of the total farm-based debtors, would then be able to finally settle their debts. These NPL farming borrowers now have debts totaling approximately Bt18 billion, still about three times lower than the total NPLs in 2001.
The BAAC may also lower interest rates charged on the remaining 85 per cent or about 1.7 million indebted farmers by about 3 per cent annually, said Surapong. Details could be furnished within two weeks and the reprieve could start around late March or early April, he said. (TNA)
 


World Bank advisor visits Lampang’s OTOP scheme

Increase in range of products, more aggressive marketing advised

Staff reporter
Dr. John Eriksson, an advisor to the World Bank, paid a recent visit to Lampang in order to provide advice on maximising the income generated from the “One Tambon, One Product” scheme at present running in the province. A meeting was held on February 11 at Lampang City Hall between Dr. Eriksson and members of the Lampang Economic Development Working Committee of the Joint Public and Private Sectors’ Consultative Committee.
At the meeting, Dr. Eriksson stated that he was pleased to see development in many areas in Thailand, and was appreciative that the Kingdom had begun to offer assistance to underdeveloped countries in spite of its economic slowdown. He advised the OTOP scheme organisers to consider either splitting into separate sectors, or to add more products to the range at present available in order to increase its income potential and competitive impact. He also suggested that private sector involvement in marketing strategies and a more aggressive approach to connecting with the industrial sector would help the scheme to maximise its potential.
The Deputy Governor of Lampang, Chai Phanichphornphan stated that Lampang is continually promoting the OTOP scheme to the extent that at least some of the products have now reached international markets. These include wood carvings and silk embroideries. Plans are in place to promote more planting of Arabica coffee bushes, already being cultivated in the Tambon Jae-Sorn area, and also to harvest macadamia nuts for export. Both products will be included in the OTOP scheme.
The meeting also discussed global warming, and was informed that Lampang is already promoting organic farming methods and planting trees for the production of rubber. These trees will increase green areas and also increase the income of the growers.


Japanese, Indian investors ready to return to Thailand

Major Japanese and Indian investors are now prepared to resume their investments in Thailand, Suwit Khunkitti, deputy prime minister and industry minister said last week.
His remarks last Friday were made after Hiroshi Shimozuma, chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation (Kankeiren) of Japan, asked him earlier in the day about the Thai government’s investment policy for 2008 and 2009, as Japanese private investors wanted to invest more in Thailand.
Cooperation in the fields of trade and investment between the two countries would grow significantly thanks to the implementation of the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA), he said.
Mr. Suwit also said his ministry would direct the Board of Investment to cooperate with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Bangkok-based Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to help solve problems for Japanese investors in Thailand.
Japanese investors are keen on investing in steel, vehicles and the vehicle spare parts industries in Thailand, he said.
In another meeting with Subramanium Ramadorai, CEO and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., a major manufacturer of auto and steel in India, Mr. Suwit said the company was interested in investing in the steel, auto and information technology businesses in Thailand.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej told a press conference that the Japanese ambassador to Thailand, Hideaki Kobayashi, and Kankeiren chairman Shimozuma had had a meeting with him also on Friday.
Mr. Samak reported that Japan’s ambassador had told him that the Tokyo government is prepared to provide a loan at 1.4 per cent interest for the elevated train running from Bang Yai in Nonthaburi province, passing through Bang Sue to Ratchaburana in the city’s Thonburi side. (TNA)