Diana Group’s new meeting hall to open by year-end

Ariyawat Nuamsawat
A new 20 million baht convention center from the Diana Group is expected to open at the Diana Garden Resort in North Pattaya by the end of the year.

Sopin Thappajug, MD of the Diana Group performs the auspicious ceremony of laying the foundation stone, heralding the start of construction of the multi million baht project.

The meeting hall will be able to host up to 300 people and will be fully wheelchair-accessible. The Diana Group recently sold its Diana Millennium House to partly finance the new center, which was needed as the hotel group had outgrown its existing facility.
Work has already begun on the new center, which will mix traditional Thai decor with modern technology. Construction is being led by the Noppom Co.

Artist’s rendering of the new Diana Group convention center.

Thai Triumph garment workers seek German embassy intervention

Nearly one thousand workers of a foreign-owned garment company in Samut Prakan on Thursday submitted a letter to the German embassy asking its government to negotiate with their German employers to return laid off employees to work.
Led by Jitra Kochadech, an advisor to the Triumph International (Thailand) labor union, the action came after the layoff of 1,959 workers from Body Fashion (Thailand), a manufacturer and a distributor of women’s lingerie and swimwear under the corporate umbrella of Triumph International (Thailand), with the sub-brands Sloggi, Bee Dees, and Triumph Sport.
Ms Jitra said that the layoff was unfair as the unemployed laborers, most of whom had worked for the company at least 20 years and were union members, were not officially informed of the matter in advance.
She said the workers received only short messages via cell phones in the night of June 28.
The company said it was operating at a loss and therefore was forced to reduce the number of its employees, but some union members, including herself, believed the firm wanted to relocate its production base to new location with lower labor costs and without the labor union, Ms Jitra said.
The embassy representative accepted the letter, but said the company was not state-owned and is owned by German nationals.
Ms Jitra said she and five colleagues would fly to Hong Kong Friday to negotiate with executives at the Triumph head office there. (TNA)
 

ASEAN, India sign long-awaited free-trade agreement

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India have signed a long-awaited free trade agreement (FTA) which will take effect next year and increase trade between ASEAN countries and India to US$60 billion within seven years, according to Thai Commerce Minister Pornthiva Nakasai.
Under the agreement, ASEAN members and India will reduce import tariffs to zero for more than 80 percent of their total imported goods between 2013-2016, while import tariffs for sensitive goods will be reduced to 5 percent in 2016.
Pornthiva said after six years of negotiations, the ASEAN-India FTA was signed by the ASEAN Trade Ministers and its Indian counterpart during the 41st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) in Bangkok on Thursday, which was considered a successful step by ASEAN to tie up trade relations with India and its population of 1.1 billion people.
The Indian economy is of similar size to China, Japan and South Korea, countries with which ASEAN has already signed FTAs, she said.
The commerce minister said she was confident that the ASEAN-India FTA would be an important mechanism to boost trade and investment between ASEAN member countries and India.
It was also good timing for the FTA as it could send a positive signal to the world community that ASEAN and India have a strong determination to foster free trade, she said.
“It is expected that trade between ASEAN and India will increase to US$60 billion within seven years, or by 2016, after the trade volume in the previous year was US$47 billion. Among ASEAN countries, Thailand ranks forth in export market share to India after Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia,” said Pornthiva.
It is expected that trade between Thailand and India could hit US$10 billion after the implementation of the FTA next year, she said.
The FTA agreement will enable member countries to reduce tariffs from January 1, 2010, onwards, she said, adding that Thai export products that would benefit from the agreement include automotive components, gemstones and ornaments, telecommunications equipment, electrical appliances, furniture and cosmetics.
The signing of the FTA will open South-East Asian markets to Indian exporters reeling from the shrinking of their main markets in the United States and Europe during the global economic slowdown.
Trade negotiations with the 10-nation ASEAN began in 2001 but was delayed several times due to differences over issues like the list of restricted goods, duty cuts on farm products including palm oil and rules related to value addition. After negotiations concluded in late 2008, new differences arose on the methods of breaking customs’ barriers.
ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. (TNA)

China, ASEAN sign investment accord

China, which now enjoys the highest growth in Asia and is the world’s third largest economy, signed an investment agreement Saturday with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) here, Thai Commerce Minister Pornthiva Nakasai said.
The agreement was signed during the 41st ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM) held in Bangkok.
Hailing the agreement, which followed six years of negotiations - since 2003, AEM chair Pornthiva said that the move will protect Chinese and ASEAN investor interests, as well as increase new capital inflows to offer sustainable profits, is in line with a plan to establish an ASEAN Economic Community by the end of 2015.
Under the agreement, Chinese businesses will expand investment in agriculture and food industries in ASEAN and plan to extend loans amounting to US$15 billion for infrastructure development programs, including construction of a railroad from southern China to Malaysia.
It is expected that the agreement would boost investment between ASEAN and China to $5 billion from the $3.6 billion now within the next three years.
Latest statistics showed that China now ranks fourth in terms of key goods imported from ASEAN while the grouping ranks third as principal importer of that country.
Chinese investment now ranks eighth in ASEAN and its cumulative investment since last year totaled about $6.1 billion, while ASEAN investment in that country was approximately $5.6 billion.
China and ASEAN signed a Framework Agreement of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation in 2002, proposing an ASEAN-China free trade area to be realized by January 1 next year. (TNA)