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Latest edition of TBG presented to British Ambassador
British Ambassador H.E. David Fall is presented with a
copy of The Brooker Group’s Thai Business Groups, 5th edition (TBG) by The
Brooker Group’s CEO, Brian Cahill, after delivering a speech at the
Landmark Hotel recently.
 TBG
is the most comprehensive collection of research and information profiling
Thailand’s 150 most prominent family business groups.
Criteria for families being chosen include their contribution to
Thailand’s historical and overall economic development, family members’
shareholdings in and board seats on, the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s
listed companies, as well the group’s overall profile and influence in
Thailand’s business and financial communication.
Government pension fund expects returns to grow 25 percent
The Government’s Pension Fund (GPF), Thailand’s
largest state fund manager, said it will continue to view the Stock Exchange
of Thailand (SET) optimistically and expects the GPF’s return on its
equity investments this year to average between 25-30 percent.
Secretary-general Visit Tantisunthorn said, “The GPF
plans to raise its investment in the equity market up to 17-18 percent of
its total assets from 15 percent last year, while reducing this year’s
investment in the bond market down to 75-78 percent from 79 percent last
year. In my view, the SET still has room for future growth. The recent bird
flu outbreak created fluctuations on the SET’s index, but Thailand’s
overall economic fundamentals still look very healthy.”
Visit said the GPF wants to invest in state enterprises
such as the Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT) and the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand (EGAT) which plan to go public this year. He added
that GPF is also looking to purchase stocks in the financial sector.
Visit said that the GPF plans to spend about 8 billion baht on
investments in local and foreign mutual funds and government bonds. In
addition, the GPF is eying investment in foreign bond markets. Research has
shown that managing assets in the local market may get tougher if local
interest rates go up in the second half of 2004 in the face of a stronger
Thai economy. (TNA)
Employers to get illegal labor amnesty
Deputy Prime Minister Bhokin Bhalakula announced that
employers of illegal foreign laborers will not be prosecuted under a new
plan to encourage companies to register their foreign workers.
Speculating that over 800,000 foreign laborers are
probably hiding from the Thai authorities, Bhokin said that the amnesty for
employers would allow the government to gain an accurate impression of the
number of Lao, Myanmar and Cambodian workers in Thailand.
Under the government’s scheme, to be operated jointly
by the interior and labor ministries, employers currently hiding their
foreign workers will be able to take their employees to be registered,
without fear of prosecution on either side.
Bhokin said, “Once the government has gained an
accurate picture of the foreign labor situation, it will do everything in
its powers to ensure that foreign workers start entering Thailand legally,
rather than illegally, with passports and work permits.”
While police will continue to arrest foreign laborers, they will focus on
cases which involve cheating, torture and human rights abuses. (TNA)
Institute celebrates 5th anniversary
The Electrical and Electronic Institute recently
celebrated their 5th anniversary at the Chulalongkorn Research Institute.
H.E. Phinij Jarusombat, minister of industry, presided over the ceremonies.
 H.E.
Phinij Jarusombat, minister of industry, gave the opening speech and a talk
on “Industrial Development Strategy towards Global Competitiveness”.
On the same occasion, Walter Kretschmar gave a presentation under the
title of “Electrical and Electronic Products-Standards in the Future from
European Perspective.”
Walter
Kretschmar spoke on “Research and Development at Siemens”.
FTA deal aims at no taxes
on intra-regional trade
Thailand has pledged to expedite trade negotiations with
countries in the regional BIMST-EC grouping following the signing of a free
trade area (FTA) agreement among member states of the grouping, aimed at
abolishing taxes on intra-regional trade.
Speaking after the meeting of senior officials, trade
ministers, economics ministers and foreign ministers from Bangladesh, India,
Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand (BIMST), plus Nepal and Bhutan, Commerce
Minister Watana Muangsook spoke of the need for an equal partnership among
the five nations to ensure mutual development and cooperation.
Stressing the need to avoid a culture of donations and
dependency, he noted that Thailand would benefit enormously from the free
trade within the grouping, with its 1.3 billion-plus inhabitants.
The free trade area (FTA) deal, clinched during the 6th
BIMST-EC, held from Feb. 6-8 in Phuket, will eventually lead to encompass
taxation, the facilitation of trade, the reduction of bureaucracy impeding
trade, and the expansion of the trade in services and investment.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra witnessed the signing
of the BIMST-FTA agreement prior to the closure of the three-day regional
conference.
Thailand called for the acceleration of negotiations on
the agreement, with talks on the abolition of customs tariffs on goods to
begin in July this year and to be completed by the end of December 2005.
The talks will be divided into two timetables - a
timetable to accelerate reductions in tariffs, and a timetable for normal
tariff reductions. Negotiations on services and investment will begin next
year, with the aim of completing discussions by the end of 2007.
Separate discussions will take place on specific areas of
cooperation, including technology, transport and communications, energy,
tourism and fisheries.
Thailand has agreed to chair a BIMST-EC Trade Negotiation
Committee, which will consist of permanent ministerial secretaries from the
countries involved.
Important Thai exports to the BIMST-EC grouping include
plastic beads, fabrics, computers and equipment, chemicals, steel, oil,
sugar and cement, while major imports include gemstones, steel, chemicals
and industrial machinery. In 2003 intra-regional trade stood at USD3
billion, or 2.2 percent of Thailand’s total trade. (TNA)
Over 4,000 Bangkok transport workers to face the chop
The Bangkok Mass Transport Authority (BMTA) recently
warned that it might have to lay off over 4,000 of its workers to meet
international efficiency standards. BMTA director Poksak Settabutr said that
according to standards used abroad, one public bus could provide employment
for four staff. This meant that the BMTA’s 1,660 buses could only give
profitable employment to 15,500 workers, compared to the 19,000 currently
employed by the authority.
Poksak cautioned that this could lead to the specter of
4,000-plus BMTA workers facing redundancy. Nonetheless, he stressed that the
BMTA would try to keep its current workforce if possible, and that lay-offs
would be based on a system of voluntary redundancies where appropriate. The
BMTA’s efficiency master plan is expected to be completed in April.
Poksak said that the BMTA was also considering reintroducing trams to
Bangkok, as this would help solve the capital’s traffic problems. He also
noted that there was a lot of duplication on current bus routes, which would
be reduced in the future. (TNA)
Thailand in investment promotion deal with Sri Lanka
Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) and its Sri Lankan
counterpart have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on boosting
bilateral trade and investment. BOI Secretary-General Somphong Wanapha
announced that the deal was signed during the official visit to Thailand by
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 9-11 February.
The MOU followed an earlier agreement to boost and
protect bilateral investment, signed on 3 January. Under the terms of the
agreement, the investment boards of the two countries will work to exchange
information on trade and investment, to promote bilateral investment
partnerships, and to exchange personnel and facilitate investment between
the two countries.
Somphong expressed confidence that Thailand would benefit
enormously from the deal, which he said would serve to boost bilateral
investment.
At present, there are only six Sri Lankan investment projects in
Thailand, the majority of which are in the rubber industry, chemical
industry, and gemstones sector. Eight Thai companies, meanwhile, currently
invest in Sri Lanka, mostly in the Thai restaurant sector, gemstones sector,
and agro-industry. (TNA)
BlueScope Steel bolsters investment in the region
3 billion baht slated to double production capacity
Brendan Richards
BlueScope Steel Limited, formerly BHP, recently announced a
new 3 billion baht addition to their Mabtaput plant in Rayong.
 Ian
Dickson, President,
BlueScope Steel
The expansion of the zinc alloy coating facility will take
approximately 18 months to complete and will enable the plant to double the
output or 200,000 tonnes of aluminiun-zinc alloy and zinc-coated products.
The Rayong plant is BlueScope Steel’s largest facility in
South East Asia, incorporating a cold rolling mill and pickle line. Metal
coating and a paint line and, upon completing the new additions will turn out
375,000 tonnes of material annually.
 BlueScope
Steel (Thailand) plant in Mabtaput is set to boost production next year with an
additional 3 billion baht production facility.
Materials made at the plant range from molded fa็ade
and steel construction materials, pre-engineered buildings, and other items
used on the building and electronics industry. Products such as Colorbond,
Zincalume, Truzinc and Shutterex have revolutionized the building industry in
Thailand and the region with a long list of high profile buildings and
structures such as Kasetsart and Shinwatra Universities and BTS Sky Train
station roofing in Thailand to the Olympic Park Railway Station and the Sydney
International Equestrian Center in Australia, to name a few, as well as the
humble shutter doors seen around the country.
“Our main market is to supply premium quality materials in
Thailand and as with any surplus it is then exported throughout the region,”
said Ian Dickson, BlueScope Steel president.
According to the company media release Thailand is currently
experiencing strong economic growth, a sentiment echoed by Ian, who sees a
strong turn around in the GDP and general economy.
The company’s investment is consistent with their strategy
of growing downstream value added steel products in Asia and as such, inline
with the general economic outlook their BlueScope’s business is growing.
BlueScope Steel is Australia’s largest investor in Thailand, having
invested more the 200 million Australian Dollars (approx. 6.1 billion baht) in
the last 8 years.
Thailand and Japan begin FTA negotiations
Thailand and Japan have launched an initial round of
trade negotiations which will eventually pave the way for the establishment
of a free trade area (FTA).
The Thai negotiating team was headed by director-general
of the Department of International Economics, while Japan was be represented
by deputy permanent secretary for foreign affairs.
These discussions marked the first time that Thailand and
Japan have sat down formally at the negotiating table to talk over the
proposed FTA deal. Talks focused on 21 important economic fields, including
the trade in goods and services, investment, the movement of people,
agricultural cooperation and education. (TNA)
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