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Thailand’s US$ millionaires increasing
The number of millionaires in Thailand slightly
increased last year from the year before, according to a world report. The
2002 World Wealth Report, which was publicized by the U.S.-based
consultancy Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and the investment bank Merrill
Lynch, said that Thailand had about 20,000 people classified as US$
millionaires last year.
The number of ‘high net-worth individuals’ in Asia
totaled 1.73 million at the end of last year, up 7% from the year before,
the report indicated.
High net-worth individuals are defined as those with
financial assets of more than US$1 million, excluding real estate.
Strong performance of regional stock markets over the
past year helped boost the wealth of Asian investors, according to the
report.
The number of millionaires worldwide rose by around
200,000 to 7.1 million in 2001, despite volatile financial markets and the
economic downturn in many countries. Combined wealth rose by around 3% to
$26.2 trillion, said the 2002 World Wealth Report. (TNA)
Australia offers EGAT to join in maintenance business in Kuwait
According to Kraisi Karnasuta, EGAT president of
maintenance, Australia has confidence in the maintenance abilities of the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and has offered EGAT a
chance to invest in this field in Kuwait since the agency is up to world
standards.
IPS, an Australian company, recently made a proposal to
jointly set up a power plant maintenance business in Kuwait. The deal to
cooperate with IPS is under negotiation.
State-owned EGAT has already signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with its Vietnamese counterpart to carry out the
maintenance work at the combine cycle power plant in Vietnam and will be
the nation’s first 700-800 megawatt power plant.
“The maintenance business of EGAT will generate more
income for the organization in the future,” said the Krasi. “EGAT is
about to be privatized very soon,” he said, adding that after that
process is finished, the maintenance business division will become a
subsidiary company. The new company will join hands with foreign companies
as joint ventures to serve the clients in other countries such as Vietnam
and Indonesia,” he said.
EGAT has 30 years of experience in power plant
maintenance work and the maintenance division of EGAT has been serving
about 70 private electric generators both large and small. (TNA)
SCB sees flat loan growth in first five months of this year
Siam Commercial Bank says its total loans have
experienced a flat growth in the first five months of this year mainly
because of the reduction of large loan portfolios and uncertainty of SME
loan growth.
Chatchaval Panlarp, senior executive vice president of
SCB, disclosed that the possibility of the projected loan growth of 2%
this year looked dim as the bank’s main loan portfolios in that period
have reduced by around 3-4 billion baht from over 200 billion baht, which
represents 40% of its total outstanding loans of almost 500 billion baht.
He said the bank needed to accelerate lending by 10
billion baht to offset the fall in the large loan portfolios. But it was
expected the target would be hard to reach.
The main loan portfolios had dropped because most major
firms such as Shinawatra Corporation, Advance Info Services, Ratchaburi
Holding, Total Access Communications, and Siam Panich Leasing preferred
issuing debentures to seeking loans from banks because the capital cost is
lower.
To ease the impact, Chatchaval said, the bank would
stress extending retail consumer loans, particularly housing, which
currently represents 10-15% of its outstanding loans. He conceded the bank
remained reluctant to stress lending to SMEs because a lot of loans
extended to them previously became non-performing. (TNA)
Eastern Seaboard economic development high priority with government
The government sees continuing development of the
Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate in Rayong as an automobile
manufacturing center in Asia, or the “Detroit of Thailand” as a top
priority for economic expansion.
Prime Minister Thaksin said that after visiting the
Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate and meeting automobile manufacturers
that the government sees the vast potential of the estate and wants to
continue to upgrade it.
Apart from meeting automobile manufacturers, the
cabinet was briefed on local automobile production, and were given
demonstrations of automobiles and parts prototypes manufacturing. The
visit was part of the fourth mobile cabinet meeting in the East, which
started in Rayong Province.
The cabinet will also consider development strategies
for the eastern region, including promotion of eco-tourism, promotion of
local industries for export, promotion of Thai fruits in the international
markets, and the development of the local agricultural sector and
processed fruits.
The allocation of B16.6 billion of the 2003 fiscal
budget under the government’s national structural strategy, aimed to
enhance the country’s competitiveness and sustain economic growth, will
be discussed at the fourth mobile meeting to be held in Thailand’s
northern region. (TNA)
Nation’s debt won’t be passed on to future generations
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has stressed that his
government will not leave the country’s huge debt burdens unsolved and
pass them on to descendants.
In a recent public speech, the PM announced that the
government has decided to issue up to 780 billion baht in state bonds to
help cover the Financial Institution Development Fund’s debts of 1.4
trillion baht incurred from the bailout of ailing banks and finance houses
after the 1997 crisis.
Thaksin said, “Should we leave the debt problem
unresolved, our country’s credibility and trustworthiness will be
affected. Foreign countries won’t believe in our ability to repay debts.
So, the central bank was assigned to seek this as a way out and proposed
it to the cabinet for consideration and approval.”
He went on to say, “The bank expects to use profits
generated from the investment of excess reserves to pay off the principal
of 500 billion baht in bonds issued in 1988 to repay debts incurred by the
now-defunct 56 financial institutions.”
According to the Thai premier, the government will use
some taxes to pay off interest burdens. Repayment of the 112 billion baht
in FIDF bonds as well as the 78 billion in government bonds authorized
will take 19 years.
Thaksin said there was already a clear framework
allowing the Bank of Thailand to use profits to pay off the principal and
the government would allocate some taxes to pay interest. He explained
that with this approach, the country’s debt burdens would not exceed 60%
of gross domestic products, which is not high when compared with 130%
borne by Japan and Italy.
He said the government would not allow the debt burden
to exceed 65% of GDP. “Solving the debt problem in line with the
framework will help increase our country’s credibility and
trustworthiness because we can clearly account for the source of capital
for debt repayment and the repayment period,” Thaksin said. “More
importantly, we will strictly comply with the monetary and fiscal
principle. We’ll try to allocate an investment budget of no less than
20% of the whole budget and won’t allow the repayment of debts to exceed
16%,” he said. (TNA)
Trade secrets legislation in the works to protect Thai recipes
Thailand is on the verge of introducing trade secrets
legislation enabling the protection of Thai recipes, amid fears that
foreigners could patent such favorites as Pat Thai and Tom Yam Kung, the
deputy commerce minister announced yesterday.
During a seminar on trade secrets legislation, Newin
Chidchob said that the new laws, which will come into effect on July 22,
will help protect small-scale producers, who until now have had no legal
protection for their ideas, by offering basic coverage even to producers
who had not patented their products.
The legislation would protect various trade formulas,
including recipes, accounting systems, and administrative systems, and the
owners of the trade secret rights would be able to sue anyone found
violating them, provided they could come up with sufficient evidence.
“Trade secrets legislation will be extremely
beneficial for the Thai people, as when the legislation comes into effect
it will provide immediate coverage for the owners of the rights, without
the owners of the rights having to request any registration,” Newin
said. “The legislation will provide coverage forever, as nowhere is
there stated an expiration date for the protection offered,” he added.
Yanyong Phuangrat, director of the Department of
Intellectual Property, said that the legislation would not only prevent
foreigners from using Thai trade formulas, but would also protect
small-scale Thai producers against industrial espionage on the part of
foreign companies.
“Thai trade formulas, such as the recipes for Red
Bull or Mae Pranom chili paste are confidential information that no-one
else can use,” he said. “But the owners of the recipes have to protect
themselves too, by noting down the formula and keeping it secret,
installing closed circuit television system, making contracts with their
workers or installing a system to prevent the leakage of confidential
information, in order that this can be used as evidence if they ever need
to sue,” Yangon added. (TNA)
German assistance for development of SMEs looks promising
Germany has cooperated well with Thailand in many
areas, which has contributed to the long-term development of the Thai
economy. The Thai government expects similar assistance by Berlin will
help develop local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
German President Johannes Rau and his wife recently
paid an official visit at Government House. In his keynote speech at a
dinner banquet held to welcome the German president, Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra said that Germany and Thailand have maintained close
relationships at all levels since the two allied countries signed a
goodwill and maritime treaty in 1862.
“Germany has continued to assist and cooperate with
Thailand even when the Thai economy plunged into its worst crisis in
1997,” Thaksin remarked.
Thailand has received technical assistance and
cooperation from Germany which has resulted in long-term development of
many sectors in the Thai economy. Thailand and Germany are also strategic
trading partners. Thailand has received cooperation and assistance not
only from the German government, but also from other German institutions,
foundations, corporations, and NGOs.
Thaksin said that relations between Germany and
Thailand would be further boosted this year, as the two countries have
agreed to set up a joint economic commission as a platform for direct
contacts and discussions on various issues including economic cooperation.
The German-Thai Joint Economic Commission will promote
bilateral cooperation in both the public and private sectors. Currently,
Germany is the fourth largest foreign investment source of Thailand. (TNA)
Countries keen to follow Thailand’s floating bank
Many countries have shown interest in Thailand’s
floating bank, the first of its kind in the world. The floating bank, a
branch of the Government Savings Bank (GSB), has served households along
the Chao Phraya River and its linked canals for 40 years.
The sailing bank regularly serves people along the Chao
Phraya River, those living along Bangkok Noi Canal and households along
Bang Yai Canal in Nonthaburi Province.
Despite its basic services of deposit-withdrawal and
small-scale lending, with no modern on-line systems to link with other
branches and other banks, the floating branch of the GSB has won the
hearts of its clients due to its “house to house service” and the
friendly nature of its staff.
Not only communities along the 30-kilometer route of
the floating bank have been impressed with the unique banking services,
but also many foreign countries have shown their interest in following the
initiative.
Sweden, in particular, sent a team of officials to
study work and services of the floating bank, and later launched a similar
floating bank, the second of its kind in the world. An official of the
bank said that the floating bank would continue to serve their clients
along the river and canals regardless of their smaller profits compared to
other branches and banks. The sailing bank now has about 100,000 clients.
(TNA)
Public debts likely to peak at 59.18% of GDP in September
Public debt is likely to peak at 59.18% of the
country’s gross domestic product at the end of this fiscal year
(September), which is two years earlier than expected, according to a
senior official at the Fiscal Policy Office.
Sathit Limpongphan, director of the office, said that
public debt is likely to reach the highest level in that time because the
Finance Ministry has been allowed to issue bonds to cope with
780-billion-baht debt burdens borne by the Financial Institutions
Development Fund. He said the office projected the debts would increase to
3.1 trillion baht or 59.18% of GDP from 2.8 trillion or 53.5%.
The Cabinet recently approved the ministry’s plan to
issue bonds to liquidate the huge debts incurred by FIDF. The first lot of
bonds worth around 300 billion baht will be issued next month.
Sathit said the higher public debts still remained at a
manageable level. To maintain the monetary and fiscal principle the
government has a policy to keep public debt at not more than 65% of GDP.
As well, the government plans to gradually reverse the
current budget deficit policy, hoping to adopt a balanced budget policy in
the fiscal year 2008. Sathit said the current account deficit in April,
the first in many months, was not worrying because it is very small and is
a temporary phenomenon.
He expressed confidence the country’s economic growth
will continue to gain momentum and reach no less than 3.6%. The consumer
confidence index increased to 78.1; the highest in 25 months. The
government’s revenue collection in the first eight months of the fiscal
year was 8.7% higher than projected. (TNA)
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