Chinese business keen to boost investment in Thailand

Chinese businesspersons are interested in investing more in various industries in Thailand, Industry Minister Chanchai Chairungruang said on Thursday.
Speaking after meeting with executives of the Sino-Thai Chamber of Commerce, Charnchai said he learned that the Chinese business operators showed interest to invest more in Thailand.
From some 200 companies, each with a business size of at least Bt10 billion in value, will meet in Bangkok May 25-27 to discuss ways to increase investment in Thailand.
Initially, he said, the Chinese entrepreneurs had paid attention to investing in farm product processing, foods, electronic parts, computer, and auto parts industries.
More importantly, some of the Chinese business visitors expressed interest to co-invest with their Thai counterparts in building an industrial estate to accommodate their investment.
Chanchai said the Ministry of Industry and the Sino-Thai Chamber of Commerce will discuss a way to put their investment plans into practice as soon as possible.
The minister added the chamber had informed him of a campaign to bring 10,000 Chinese couples to wed in Thailand. It is believed the campaign would help boost revenue significantly in the tourist business sector. (TNA)

Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand to cooperate in developing furniture

Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand have agreed to cooperate in developing products, particularly household furnishings and furniture, with the goal of positioning the product in markets around the world, according to Department of Export Promotion (DEP) Director-General Rachane Potjanasuntorn.
Leaders of the three countries discussed their concerns in the matter during the ASEAN Summit recently held at the Cha-am resort.
Rachane said state agencies concerned with intra-ASEAN trade affairs will meet soon to lay a tangible framework for their expanding cooperation.
He said that Thai furnishings and furniture had been recognized in quality terms by large- and medium-size markets as well as new markets.
Although many countries have been affected by the global economic meltdown, he believes opportunities and demands for Thai furniture would remain sound this year.
It is expected the export of industrial products would grow 3-5 percent with a total value of Bt45 billion this year.
“The commerce ministry is still confident that furniture exports will expand satisfactorily,” he said, “but we are more concerned about a labor shortage in furniture production.
“As far as I have seen, the number of employees in the furniture industry has not been cut back. In contrast, the demand for labor in the sector has increased,” he said. (TNA)
 

Thai consumer confidence index plunges to 7 year low

Anxieties over the decline in the economy and the spiraling cost of living caused the Thai consumer confidence index in February to fall for the first time since the coalition government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva took office last December, retreating to an 85 month low, according to a survey.
Vice-Rector Saowanee Thairungroj of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) said the consumer confidence index (CCI) in February dropped to 74, down from 75.2 in January, its lowest level since February 2002.
UTCC’s Economic and Business Forecast Centre director Thanawat Palavichai said the decline in February was considered high with the global and Thai economies in a worse-than-expected state after Thailand’s gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2008 contracted 4.3 percent, its lowest level in the past decade.
The fall in Thailand’s exports along with rising unemployment, retail oil prices and the cost of living are expected to continue lowering the consumer confidence index until the third quarter of 2009, Thanawat explained.
He said the public still wants the government to issue more economic stimulus measures to increase jobs and help bolster consumer confidence and private investment during the rest of this year.
The government must accelerate its spending and build confidence among the people otherwise the Thai economy could deteriorate further, Thanawat said. (TNA)

Company launches hobby shoes

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Foot Wear Tech 1530 Co. Ltd. showed off Hobby Shoes, its new line of new fashion shoes for men at a launching ceremony on the third floor of Central Festival Pattaya Beach.

(L to R) Sarun Tuntijumnun, general manager of Central Festival Pattaya Beach, Gen. Choenchai Pinitsuthhapot, president of the Pan Sriracha-Kabinburi-Rayong Board under the Sahapat Group and Naparat Traikomol, managing director of Foot Wear Tech 1530 Co., Ltd., officially launch the new store.

Gen. Choenchai Pinitsuthhapot, president of the Pan Sriracha-Kabinburi-Rayong Board under the Sahapat Group, Naparat Traikomol, managing director of the company, and Sarun Tuntijumnun, general manager of Central Festival Pattaya Beach, joined in to show the shoes to shoppers.
Naparat said that Hobby Shoes are smart casual shoes created to be a good-quality and inexpensive choice for men, made by a company with 30 years experience in making shoes.
She said the previous year the shoes earned a profit of 20 million baht and it was estimated that this year the company will be able to grow by 30-40%, aiming to increase income to 50 million baht within five years.
They are for men 20-44 years of age and are being sold from 88 outlets in department stores.

Business school competition encourages entrepreneurial spirit

Graham Macdonald
Despite all the problems around the world, it’s great to see positive signs in our own backyard. We’ll start off by looking at how the next generation of business leaders is being developed.
Experience, not textbooks, is the best teacher for any business executive, according to Thitinan Wattanavekin, head of deposits and marketing at Kiatnakin Bank who believes that a clear business plan and strategy is important in any crisis, pointing to Kiatnakin’s own experience during the 1997 crisis. Kiatnakin was one of only two finance companies allowed to remain open by regulators out of 58 firms.
Kiatnakin now sponsors the 2009 MAI Bangkok Business Challenge@Sasin, a competition among business school students to develop the best business plan. Thitinan said she hoped that participants in the competition would be able to learn from the real life experiences and successes of the judges, adding, “I once asked my professor when I was studying at Sasin about the difference between an executive MBA program and a regular one… The answer was that an executive program focused on making decisions based on the information you receive, while regular students focus more on gathering the information needed to make a decision. Without experience, you need to start with the data.”
Professor Toemsakdi Krishnamra, director of the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University, said the contest was initiated in 2002 when the school marked its 20th anniversary. From a national contest with 12 competitors, the competition has now expanded regionally and globally.
The 2009 competition focused on creative ideas that can translate to real life investments. Overall, 64 teams from 45 business schools in 23 countries participated. Sixteen teams from 13 countries reached the semifinals, including three teams from Thailand representing Sasin, Thammasat University and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
MBMG were honored to be among the judges choosing the best business ideas. In the words of Thitinan, “We want to support good behavior and make sure ethical students have an opportunity. Talent without ethics does no good for society.”
In fact the stated objections are:
To encourage new ventures by instilling entrepreneurial spirit in young minds.
To provide an international platform in which institutions offering graduate programs in business administration in Thailand, Asia and the rest of the world can compete, learn from each other and foster stronger relationships.
To educate the general public in specific business planning and presentation techniques.
This year’s winners were:
Immeasure Goup from the Technical University of Denmark; the first runner up was Ihealth of Tsinghua University, P.R. China.
Other Finalists were:
Vital Approach, University of Chicago the Booth School of Business, U.S.A.
vCare Technologies National University of Singapore, Singapore
UUrjaa Corp. IE Business School, Spain
Fueltura Surge Thammasat University, Thailand

This year’s winners.

AFG discusses ‘downsizing’

Dr. Iain Corness
With interest in the local Automotive Focus Group (AFG) running at an all-time high, this professional body, formed to look at the problems in the auto industry and its suppliers, asked Supachai Manusphaibool of the MR and TS company, to address the group on the thorny question of downsizing.

Supachai Manusphaibool

With everyone in the auto world (including Thailand’s PM Abhisit Vejjajiva) realizing that tough times are ahead, for many companies redundancies are now a fact of life. However, Supachai soon showed that there are many ways to downsize, but only a few of them will not engender reprisals, or labor court tribunals. He entitled this as “Socio-cultural concerns and legal constraints.”
He explained to the members that although there are many statutes governing the mechanics involved in laying off the workforce, just by following these to the letter does not guarantee a smooth transition to a lean workforce. It could result in a residual but “mean” workforce.
He advocated a humanitarian approach to lay offs, including taking into account the location of family homes (on the Eastern Seaboard or up-country), and other ‘social’ factors. Thai culture and its deep-rooted ramifications within the workforce has also to be considered.
There were also other fundamental differences in laying off some of the labor force, compared to many western countries. The principle of ‘First in - Last out’ did not apply here, and it was the opposite, with ‘First in - First out’ being the norm in this country.
Supachai gave the AFG members documents to show the difference between ‘layoffs’ and a ‘mutual separation program’, showing very easily the advantages of the mutual separation approach to the HR problem.
The AFG is a cohesive group which has come about to address the mutual problems experienced by those within the auto industry. As such, it is a forum for very specific networking, and has in its statutes rules to allow only a small percentage of non-auto people into the group.
The AFG can be contacted through its secretary Maurice Bromley, email Maurice.Bromley @go-dove.com, and schedules regular monthly meetings for its members, as well as electronic updates on important matters.

Thailand ready to welcome British investors: PM

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand was ready to welcome more British investors as the kingdom’s political life has returned to normal and the government has put its utmost effort into stimulating the economy.
Abhisit, during a three-day official visit to Britain, met leading business figures in London and briefed them on his government’s attempts to resolve Thailand’s political problems through a process of reform, as well as its approaches to revive the Thai economy, much impacted by global financial crisis.
The prime minister said most British businessmen he met expressed optimism regarding Thai politics, seeing the kingdom moving toward improvement, and a number of them said they could expand their investment in Thailand.
The British business community’s determination to do business with Thailand will help ease Thai worries regarding the strict trade regulations earlier imposed by the European Union (EU), PM Abhisit said, referring to British help in frozen chicken negotiations with the EU.
Thailand is ready to welcome British investors, Abhisit emphasized when addressing a group of business leaders, reporting that the national leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Thailand recently unanimously agreed to oppose protectionism and endorses the freer flow of goods, services, capital investment and business operators.
As the current chair of ASEAN, Abhisit said he will join the G20 summit in London next month, and that he hopes it will help the world weather the global economic slump, both the G-20 and the poorer countries.
He later presided at a promotional “Thailand Tourism Meeting” organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Abhisit said Thailand and other ASEAN countries will promote a program called “Asia’s 10 Perfect Paradises.”
Thailand along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam are ASEAN members. (TNA)