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PM orders establishment of nanotechnology center
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called for the
establishment of a nanotechnology center to boost Thailand’s
competitiveness. While giving the 5th Annual Shin Sophonpanich Memorial
Lecture on the future of the Thai economy, Thaksin said that the
establishment of free trade areas (FTAs) with numerous other countries meant
that Thailand now had to think on the offensive in order to expand its
markets and gain a competition edge. This necessitated the development of
both people and technology, in particular nanotechnology, which was
currently growing in strength, he said.
Predicting that in the future nanotechnology would lead
to materials that were one hundred times stronger than steel, but
considerably lighter, Thaksin said that nanotechnology would also lead to
the discovery of cures for cancer. He pledged that the government would
entrust the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) with
the establishment of a nanotechnology center, with nanotechnology experts
leaving their government paperwork aside to conduct full-time research.
(TNA)
SMEs to develop software industry
The Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion
(SMEs) has declared its backing for the development of Thailand’s software
industry in the SME sector, according to the Office’s director Chanwit
Chansilpa.
Noting that the Office has 5 billion baht in funding to
develop Thailand’s industry capabilities, Chanwit said that the software
sector was one branch for which the Office was providing complete and
unconditional support. However, he stressed that anyone wanting to invest in
the software industry needed innovations with industrial potential, and that
requests for funding would have to be accompanied by clear business and
marketing plans.
Requests for funding will be considered by the Office
within 60 days of the submission of documents, with the amount of money
granted ranging anywhere between one million and 100 million baht.
The Office meanwhile has pledged that it will not
interfere in the way in which software SMEs are managed, but will act to
check whether or not the SMEs are operating in accordance with their plans.
Specialist technology advisors will be on hand to give
suggestions, although their support will be withdrawn if a company’s
performance suggests that such advice is no longer needed. The Office has
also agreed to provide support for the mobilization of capital for listing
on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. (TNA)
BOI wants Thais to invest
in US car components sector
The Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) is to lead a
delegation of Thai businesspeople to purchase interests in the US automobile
components industry in a bid to create an export network, BOI
Secretary-General Somphong Wanapha recently announced.
“By purchasing interests in the US sector, Thailand
would be able to create a network to distribute its own products. Thailand
is now at the forefront of global automobile component exports. Discussions
are now taking place with the Automobile Association to mobilize forces to
purchase operations, as a huge amount of money will be involved. We expect
that these negotiations will make enormous progress next year. The BOI will
help coordinate this in various respects,” Somphong said.
“At the same time, the Thai private sector is now ready
to expand investment to other countries. This includes investment in the
food industry, with Thai investors trying to purchase operations in major
countries in order to provide distribution channels for food from
Thailand,” he added.
Somphong forecast that the BOI would grant investment
concessions worth as much as 300 billion baht in 2004, with requests for
investment concessions worth 297 billion baht.
The BOI has promised the government that it will pull in
270 billion baht worth of investment next year although Deputy Prime
Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, president of the BOI board, has set a higher
target of 290 billion.
Somphong predicted that the investment climate next year
would be an exciting one, particularly in the automobile industry, with
negotiations currently underway with component manufacturer Audi. (TNA)
Sriracha oil hub on track
for mid-January launch
The government pushed closer to its dream of transforming
Thailand into a regional center for the oil trade as Energy Minister Prommin
Lertsuridej announced that the flagship Sriracha duty-free zone for oil
would be opened in mid-January 2004.
Dr. Prommin said that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
would preside over the opening of the zone on Koh Si Chang Island, opposite
the town of Sriracha in Chonburi Province.
The Sriracha Hub forms an integral part of the
government’s strategy of piloting duty-free oil trading, with the eventual
aim of turning Thailand into a regional energy center.
“This approach to developing Koh Si Chang and Sriracha
will allow Thailand to compete with, or draw equal to, Singapore,” Dr.
Prommin said. “There are now several countries interested in investing in
this project, whether Middle Eastern oil trading nations such as Oman and
the United Arab Emirates, or oil purchasing nations such as China, Japan and
South Korea,” he added.
The Energy Ministry and other government agencies have
worked to construct oil tanks and pipes on Koh Si Chang. In the second phase
of operations, pipelines will be constructed to link with the ARC refinery
in the eastern province of Rayong.
In the third phase, the Customs and Excise departments
will slash red tape to facilitate the oil trade from Koh Si Chang, while the
fourth phase will see the establishment of a one-stop center for companies
wishing to engage in the oil trade. In the future, the government also hopes
to construct oil pipelines from Saraburi to Lampang in the north, where an
oil refinery will be built to send oil on to China. (TNA)
Revenue Department aims for Internet based tax payments
The Revenue Department hopes that one million taxpayers
will pay their taxes over the Internet this year. The department’s deputy
director-general, Jantima Sirisaengtaksin, said that customers would be able
to make their tax payments via the Internet on a 24-hour basis, while
warning that the department would make random inspections to ensure that
documents were complete and correct.
Citing figures showing that 240,000 had paid their income
tax over the Internet in 2003, Jantima expressed hope that this number would
edge up to one million in 2004. She also pledged that anyone making
Internet-based payments would have any excess tax returned within one month
of payment.
The Revenue Department is confident that the use of
Internet-based payments will save at least 53 baht per person in costs for
the department, as well as saving time for taxpayers.
Taxpayers wanting to pay their revenue taxes over the
Internet can access to the Revenue Department’s website at www.rd.go.th
The department is also joining hands with Krung Thai Bank
to allow the public to pay their income tax at the bank’s 600-plus
branches from 15 January to 31 March. (TNA)
Securities firms urged to mobilize more funds
President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)
Kittirat Na Ranong is encouraging securities companies which provide
underwriting services should to improve ways to mobilize funds from
investors, as many private companies have plans to go public this year.
Commenting on the direction of the SET next year,
Kittirat said that the market had enjoyed impressive growth throughout 2003,
with many companies choosing the SET as an alternative fund-raising source,
and expects the market to continue on its upward path. However, he cautioned
that all parties concerned needed to work harder by finding better
approaches for fund mobilization by offering more attractive content and
presentation. More importantly, they needed to allocate shares to interested
investors in a fair and proper manner, he suggested.
Kittirat said, “In 2004 the SET will shift from playing
a supervisory role to a supporting role in the offering of new shares by
private companies and state enterprises. The SET is persuading to mobilize
funds so they can bring in capital to develop their businesses, which will
lead to new employment.” (TNA)
PM orders watch on currency speculators
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has ordered that a
close watch be kept on currency speculators attempting to enter the stock
market in 2004, warning that a surge of foreign investors entering the
market could have an impact on the strength of Thailand’s stock exchange.
The prime minister conceded that Thailand’s stock
market index was currently on the low side, and said that this was likely to
attract an influx of foreign investment from next year onwards. He said he
has already asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Stock
Exchange of Thailand (SET) to ensure that investment remained stable.
“I have requested relevant agencies to exercise caution
in their work and to follow international standards in order to show that
Thailand’s stock market abides by international-level rules, with
transparent inspection systems,” Thaksin said. Instead of speculation, he
urged investors to base their decisions of base factors. (TNA)
EGAT eyes LNG in place
of oil for generating stations
The Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand (EGAT) is scrambling to search for new means of fuel to power its
generating stations in the future, as fears grow that fuel oil use could
soar to 3 billion liters and that generating costs could reach as high as 10
billion baht over the next two years.
EGAT is considering the use of LNG gas for use in new
generating stations, now that several sources of LNG have been discovered in
countries, including China and Malaysia and is currently conducting
feasibility studies on the use of LNG.
Warning that national electricity demand looked set to
skyrocket over the next couple of years, EGAT Governor, Sithiporn
Rattanophat, said that this would, in turn, increase fuel use and this could
raise fuel oil usage way above the present rate of 200-300 million liters
and push up generating costs.
“In order to avert a potential crisis, EGAT will begin
using electricity from the Phu Horn station as soon as possible, while also
negotiating the purchase of fuel oil with a sulphur content of 3.5 percent
or higher, compared to 2 percent at present. At the same time, EGAT will
burn fuel oil at its Ratchaburi and Krabi generating stations, which already
has the capacity to run off fuel oil,” Sithiporn said. (TNA)
Rush to plant rice
as prices soar
Farmers across the north and northeast of the country are
rushing to plant off-season paddy in the hope of gaining extra revenue from
rising rice prices, according to the Office of Agricultural Economics. With
off-season rice with 14.15 percent humidity now selling for 4,693 baht per
ton, up 206 baht on last year’s prices, farmers are trying to jump on the
bandwagon.
But the Office of Agricultural Economics has warned that
by over-planting, the farmers could be doing themselves a disservice, with
insufficient water to meet the rising demands of cultivation.
The Office is advising farmers in the north and northeast
to cultivate soy beans during the dry season, as they need less water to
grow, and supply is currently running below domestic demand. In 2003
Thailand imported 1.856 million tons of soy beans, despite the fact that soy
beans are cultivated domestically. (TNA)
Thai cuisine rated 4th
in world’s top five
For lovers of Thai classics such as ‘tom yam kung’,
‘phad Thai’ and som tam’, the international popularity of Thai food
will come as no surprise. In fact, Thai food is the fourth most popular type
of cuisine in the world, with over 6,000 Thai restaurants across the globe.
The announcement was made by an advisor to Deputy Prime
Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, during a tour of Los Angeles and New York,
where he presented ‘Thai Select’ certificates to US-based Thai
restaurants chosen for the excellent quality of their food and service.
Thai cuisine was rated among the world’s top five,
together with French food, Italian food, Japanese food and Chinese food.
A total of 45 US-based restaurants have now received
‘Thai Select’ certification. Of the restaurants selected, three are in
Chicago, six in New York, five in Miami, two in Atlanta, six in San
Francisco, three in Sacramento and 20 in Los Angeles. (TNA)
Thailand’s northern ‘Lanna’
region targeted for development
A set of new strategies will be worked out for
Thailand’s upper-northern provinces, aimed at promoting the northern
region as a key part and propeller of the Thai economy in the future.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who overseas
economic affairs, said that the new policies would focus on the promotion
and development of northern community-based products under the
government’s One Tambon, one product (OTOP) scheme, as well as those
produced by local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The promotion
and development of tourism will also be emphasized.
“If the strategies are efficiently implemented, I
believe that gross domestic product of the country’s northern region will
increase. Economic conditions and prospects of the northern region are
stronger than other regions of the country. Since the government is already
developing the northern region as an aviation hub linking it to other major
cities of neighboring countries, it is also important to develop other areas
and sectors of the region,” noted Somkid. (TNA)
Cabinet gives nod to 130 billion-
plus stimulus budget
The Cabinet has approved a budget of 135.5 billion baht
aimed at stimulating the economy and providing compensation for civil
servants taking early retirement. Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak
said that the budget had been divided into five parts.
The first part of 33.04 million baht has been earmarked
for civil service pensions, while the second part of 14.59 million has been
earmarked for early retirement programs. The third part of 16.57 billion
will be give over as compensation to state officials, the fourth part of 59
billion will be used to boost national competitiveness, and the final part
of 12.3 billion baht will be given to local administrative organizations.
The money will become available at the beginning of March
2004. The government hopes that the budget will act to ensure the continuity
of earlier economic stimulus measures, while helping civil servants who want
to take up new careers in the private sector.
Pledging that the government would not abandon civil
servants taking early retirement, Somkid said that career training would be
provided, and that the government would find sources of capital for
government workers wanting to leave the civil service to set up new
enterprises. (TNA)
Government support
for OTOP items will continue
Pleased with the government’s success in initiating and
promoting the One Tambon, One Product (OTOP) scheme in both domestic and
overseas markets, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has vowed that his
administration will continue to support the community-based products to
ensure continued growth. It has been projected that the total sale of OTOP
items could reach over 100 billion baht over the next three years.
Referring to the impressive success of the recent trade
fair, ‘OTOP City’, aimed at showcasing locally-made products under the
government’s OTOP scheme, Thaksin said, “The growing sale of the
village-based products both in domestic and international markets reached
33.27 billion baht during October 2002-September 2003. This has surpassed
all government expectations.”
The Thai premier praised Her Majesty Queen Sirikit for
initiating royal projects supporting handicrafts and other products produced
by villagers, which inspired the launch of the OTOP scheme. He said that the
government’s support would include the introduction of modern technologies
to facilitate, and enhance production capacity and quality of OTOP goods,
namely the introduction of three-dimension computer software to improve and
develop designs of Thai cloth products, as well as the cooperation with
agencies and organizations in exchange of experts and transfer of knowledge.
Realizing the significance of younger generations as
powerful forces of the nation in the future, the Thai leader said that the
government would also encourage teenagers and youths to participate in the
OTOP scheme so that they would learn and appreciate traditional Thai arts
and cultures, and feel proud of using and publicizing Thai products. (TNA)
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