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Visa credit card company growth slows due to new BOT rules
Because of new regulations from the Bank of Thailand (BOT)
which apply to issuing credit cards, Visa says its growth in Thailand will
drop from 80 percent to about 25 percent this year.
Last year the central bank last year introduced a new
rule restricting credit card companies and banks to issue cards only to
people whose salary is above 15,000 baht a month.
Visa International Thailand manager Somboon Krobthiranond
said the new rules to control credit card spending would reduce credit card
growth in Thailand and for Visa this could mean be a drop in growth up to a
possible 25 percent.
Somboon said the company remained positive about credit
card use this year because the Thai economy was performing well and people
were more likely to spend during times of economic prosperity.
Only about 4 percent of purchases in Thailand are made
with credit cards. The global average is 7 percent.
Domestic consumption has increased with expansion
expected to be between 5 and 10 percent. Visa spends between 70 and 80
million baht a year on advertising, which it hopes will also help growth. (TNA)
Exclusive relaxed living is only 5 minutes away
There was a time when housing developments meant living
in cloned houses, where your neighbour’s business became yours as you
struggled to find your own identity in the impersonal rows of adjacent
houses. That has changed, with The Boltons development now offering an
exclusive settlement of only 8 houses, situated in a quiet and serene area
and only around 5 minutes from Sukhumvit Road.
Enter The Boltons and you will be immediately taken by
the large pool and Jacuzzi, all set in tropical landscaped gardens, with an
open area for family picnics and a safe, natural environment for children to
play.
If your lifestyle means entertaining, this house is
perfect for you. The first floor of the house is taken up by an open living
room area, with its own bathroom and a quality kitchen. The upper floor has
three spacious bedrooms, all with built-in wardrobe facilities and both the
two main bedrooms are fitted with luxury ensuites. All the bedrooms have
access to the massive terrace on the second floor.
The Boltons development group is experienced and knows
what you require, following on from the success of their very popular
Coconut Grove housing estate, situated 15 minutes from The Boltons site. We
offer a safe, secure environment, with no drab concrete walls but a very
environmentally conscious garden atmosphere. The kind of surroundings you
would want to live in yourself or in which to raise a family. This is the
kind of development, and the type of developers, that Pattaya has been
crying out for.
These houses are priced at 4,850,000 baht, and we
confidently expect rental returns of 50,000 baht per month, producing a
return on investment of over 10% if you purchase a home as an investment,
rather than a personal residence. Either way, a house in The Boltons
represents an investment in lifestyle itself. You owe it to yourself to call
and look at the opportunity this development offers you.
The Boltons group will listen to you and discuss your requirements with
you, so that your dream house can be built to suit your needs. There is a
show house now open for viewing, but we ask that you make an appointment by
calling 01 344 4473 or 01 829 8101.
BOI signs pact with Austrian banking group
The Board of Investment (BOI) signed a memorandum of
understanding on January 18 with the Austrian banking group RZB, aimed at
encouraging more European investment in Thailand.
The MOU, signed by BOI secretary-general Somphong
Wannapha and Douglas Siw, the general manager for RZB’s Asia-Pacific
region Singapore branch, lays down the groundwork for cooperation to bring
about investment, in particular by the exchange of information and advice.
The move follows similar deals aimed at creating
investment networks in Japan and Europe, with MOUs signed with four large
Japanese banks and the French bank Credit Agricole Indosuez. (TNA)
Contract Signing: BES & American Power Conversion Corporation
Adisorn
Arsirakarn (left), country manager (Thailand) of American Power Conversion
Corporation (APC) signed a contract with Parkpoom Bhumichitr (right), senior
project manager of Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd. (BES) joining the major
event Elenex Thailand 2003 (the 9th International Exhibition of Power
Generation, Transmission & Distribution, Electrical Installation and
Automation Technology) that will be taking place February 26 - March 1 at
Queen Sirikit National Convention Center Bangkok.
Thai Military bank still has sound financial plan
Bank of Thailand’s Governor M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula
has denied the central bank plans to intervene in Thai Military Bank’s
operation, saying the bank still has a sound financial position.
He conceded Siri Karncharoendee, acting president of Thai
Military Bank, had discussed with the central bank a possible increase in
the loan-loss provision and the recapitalization to strengthen the bank’s
position.
The BOT chief said he had agreed with the proposed plan.
However, the exact figure of the loan-loss provision and capital increase
and the source of new capital remained unclear. Therefore, he ordered the
bank to make a clear plan regarding how much additional loan-loss provision
is needed and where new capital will come from.
M.R Pridiyathorn also defended the financial status of
the Financial Institutions Development Fund, which reported a loss of
350,000 baht as of September 30 last year. He said the huge loss had been
already calculated and absorbed by the issuance of eight-year savings bonds
worth 980 billion baht by the government to repay FIDF’s debts. (TNA)
Government’s 2004 budget will focus on the poor
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seeking to reaffirm
his credentials with the nation’s poorest voters by vowing that the 2004
budget will focus on eliminating poverty.
Thaksin said that next year’s budget would be dedicated
to government policies including the construction of housing for poor
people, environmental regeneration, national economic development, a local
library system, and educational and health reform.
The budget will require interest payments of 100 billion
baht and premium payments of around 35 billion baht. Most of this would come
from the economic development fund.
Thaksin brushed off concerns that the government was
incurring huge levels of debt, saying that most of the debt was incurred
domestically rather than from international sources. He also promised that
the deficit for 2004 would be down from this year, and would stand at no
more than100 billion baht or no more than 2 percent of GDP.
“Today we’re only allowing ourselves necessary debts,
and we will only incur domestic debts, not foreign ones,” he said, adding
that the deficit could be drastically reduced if the government managed to
collect taxes more efficiently. The total budget had initially been set at
1.028 trillion baht.
“No later than 2007 Thailand will be able to create a
balanced budget, and I’m positive that in 2004 everything will be better.
But in 2003 we – both the state and the public – will have to work even
harder for another year in order to build a solid basis for 2004”. (TNA)
UK and US road shows prove storming success
The Finance Ministry and Merill Lynch Phatra celebrated
on January 25th after hailing the recent investment road shows in London and
New York as resounding successes, saying the interest shown in Thai
investment was greater than anticipated.
Speaking from New York, Merill Lynch deputy president
Jeremy P. Denny said that the Thailand Global Investors Conferences had
attracted more investors from both the US and Europe than the organizers had
expected.
Addressing packed halls throughout the duration of the
fairs, Finance Minister Somkid Chatusripitak gave an upbeat gloss on the
state of the Thai economy, pointing to growth rates of over 4 percent
anticipated for the next several years.
Denny said that the continuing growth of Thai companies
would herald increased investment from Europe and the US, and predicted that
the information given out at the investment fairs would boost Thailand’s
reputation among potential investors.
The fairs were attended by 12 registered companies from
Thailand, with a market value of 500 billion baht. Visitors to the fairs
were encouraged to meet representatives from the companies, as well as
gather data on Thailand’s economic polices and situation.
In London alone 61 investors and 42 fund companies
attended the fair, while 61 investors and 37 funds participated in the New
York event.
The investors for the most part represented large
international fund companies with a total investment value of more than US$1
trillion, although few were strangers to Thailand, as most already had
investment interests in the Kingdom. Nonetheless, the roads shows seemed
more successful than a similar one organized by South Korea two months ago,
attended by a mere 30 investors.
Around 500 billion baht worth of Thai stocks are
currently held by investors from foreign finance companies, with a roughly
equal proportion of shares being held by Thais.
Merill Lynch Phatra president described the information
given out at the fair as ‘third level’ information, with high-ranking
executives from large companies giving out information on their visions and
policies investors would otherwise find difficult to obtain.
Judging from their initial reactions, the investors were
satisfied with the way in which the fairs had been organized, with most
saying that it had been a worthwhile experience to meet high-ranking
executives from registered companies and learn more about government fiscal
polices on a single occasion.
The road shows bolstered Thailand’s reputation among
investors, and Thailand plans to organize similar events at least twice each
year. (TNA)
Tourism minister supports Pattaya casino plan
The tourism minister has come out in support of plans to
build a casino in the tourist resort of Pattaya, saying that it would help
turn the Eastern Seaboard into a center of the tourism and entertainment
industries. Sonthaya Khunpluem said on January 28 that he welcomed research
by the Political Economics Center which came out in favor of changing Thai
legislation to allow for the opening of casinos, claiming that it would
solve the problem of the hugely popular underground lottery and illegal
gambling dens.
While Sonthaya acknowledged that more thought was needed
on the pros and cons of opening casinos in Thailand, he said that as long as
they were managed directly they should be controllable.
He hinted that a decision would be made on the matter
soon, saying that the center’s feasibility study should be the last one.
Successive governments have often raised the issue of legalizing casinos,
but each time the issue has gone cold.
Sonthaya said that the tourist resort of Pattaya would be
the most sensible place for a casino, as it already had more than 40,000
hotel rooms and several entertainment places.
“Pattaya and Chonburi Province are suitable for a
casino and for entertainment venues, but we need to listen to the views of
all parties concerned”, he said.
The tourism minister said that any casino in Pattaya
would have to be controllable, and that its operations would have to be
clear. He also suggested that the door be made wide open for foreign
investment in any casino venture.
While casinos are currently illegal in Thailand, several
Thai people nip across the borders to casinos in Myanmar and Cambodia, which
cash in on the fact that Thais cannot legally gamble at home. Nearly 100
percent of the workers and gamblers in the 34 casinos near Thailand’s
borders are in fact Thai, and the government is concerned that this
represents a huge loss of revenue.
Sonthaya said that the establishment of a casino in
Pattaya would be in accord with the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s aim of
making Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard into a center of tourism and
entertainment. (TNA)
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