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Japanese investors won’t
relocate production bases
Beleaguered Japanese investors have asserted that they
will not shift their production bases from Thailand to other countries
despite the current heavy flooding, according to Payungsak Chartsutipol,
chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).
 Speaking
to reporters after meeting the Japanese business community, Payungsak said
the FTI assured the investors that the Thai government and the Army were
putting every effort into tackling flooding at industrial estates in
hard-hit Ayutthaya province.
Representatives of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and the Japan External
Trade Organization (JETRO) attended the meeting.
The FTI chairman said the investors understood the Thai crisis and expressed
their intention to weather the crisis with Thailand.
Payungsak said that Japanese entrepreneurs have a rehabilitation plan in
place for the Rojana Industrial estate.
When the floods recede below the earthen flood barricades, they will hire
four major contractors to pump out the floodwaters.
After the depth of the flood water drops to one meter, they will ask
soldiers to move out computer data bases stored on the second storeys of
their plants.
Over the long term, they will build concrete flood walls which can be built
higher and stronger than earthen embankment, the FTI chief said.
Most worrying now is the likely unemployment of up to 100,000 people in
Ayutthaya. Workers face temporary or long-term suspension from work for an
estimated three to ten months, depending on the time needed for
rehabilitation of each factory.
Outsourcing firms, which provide about 30 percent of all employees are
concerned because they work on short term contracts.
Meanwhile, FTI is prepared to provide temporary offices to replace
flood-affected offices in the industrial estates.
JETRO Bangkok President Setsuo Iuchi affirmed that Japan has no plan to move
its production base from Thailand as it is a long-term Japanese production
base and business ally.
Not all damage can be assessed at the moment, but it will be done after the
situation returns to normal.
Japanese entrepreneurs want consistent information in English to be
distributed by the Board of Investment or Industrial Estate Authority of
Thailand. Currently, information on the water situation is quite confusing.
The investor community hopes the floods will recede soon, so they can survey
damage and begin rehabilitation, Payungsak said. (MCOT)
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Pinnacle Resort Koh Tao appoints Hans Doelderer as resort manager
(L to R) Ingo G. Raeuber (Group
General Manager, Pinnacle Hotels, Resorts & Spas), Hans Doelderer (Resort
Manager, Pinnacle Resort Koh Tao), and Dr. Vongbhum Vanasin (Chairman of
Pinnacle Hotels, Resorts & Spas).
Pinnacle Resort Koh Tao has announced the appointment of Hans
Doelderer as resort manager.
Doelderer is Austrian national and brings extensive working experience to his
new assignment, having worked in the United States at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,
Boston Westin Copley Plaza, Ritz Carlton Boston, and most recently at the
Ap-in-die Alpen Hotel and Astoria Hotel in Kitzbuehl, Austria.
Pinnacle Koh Tao Resort is the 6th hotel of Pinnacle Hotels, Resorts & Spas, and
is due to open in December this year.
Located on Koh Tao adjacent to June Juea Beach in the west of the island,
Pinnacle Koh Tao consists of two main buildings with 24 oversized rooms and 41
bungalows, set in a tropical garden all with unobstructed sea views. The free
shaped swimming pool is located close to the sea while the open air restaurant
(June Juea) offers an unlimited view of June Juea bay.
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Flood damage higher than 0.6-0.9% of GDP: Commerce Minister
Deputy Prime Minister/Commerce Minister Kittirat Na
Ranong on Thursday conceded that the damage caused by the current disastrous
flooding could rise higher than the 0.6-0.9 percent of gross domestic
product (GDP) forecast earlier.
Kittirat expressed his concern over the far-reaching impact of the country’s
worst flooding in decades which so far has left more than 280 people dead.
At least three major industrial estates in the former capital of Ayutthaya,
north of Bangkok, have closed after being badly hit by the deluge.
The deputy prime minister supervising the economy said concerned agencies
are closely monitoring the situation to evaluate the actual cost of damage
as flooding is likely to worsen and cause extensive damage over a wider
area.
Thailand’s initial losses in the nationwide flooding were estimated at
Bt60-90 billion or 0.6-0.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Finance
Minister Teerachai Puwanartnaranubala said on Monday.
A loss of some Bt60 billion, or 0.6 percent of GDP, was indicated by the
Bank of Thailand (BoT), but the Office of the National Economic and Social
Development Board (NESDB) assessed losses at Bt80-90 billion, nearer to 0.9
percent of GDP.
Somchai Sujjapongse, director of the Fiscal Policy Office, said the current
flooding is likely to shrink this year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth
to 3.7 percent from the 4.5 percent forecast in June before the flood
crisis.
Meanwhile, consumer confidence fell for a second month in September from
73.8 in the previous month to 72.2 due to the severe floods, according to a
survey released on Thursday by the University of the Thai Chamber of
Commerce (UTCC) Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting.
Other factors which dampen consumer sentiment are concerns over the rising
cost of living, fuel prices, uncertainty over the global economy and shaky
confidence on the implementation of the government’s key policies. (MCOT)
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