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Nungruthai joins Raimon Land team
Raimon Land PLC recently announced the appointment of Ms Nungruthai
Sontiprasat as the new Vice President of Corporate Planning
 Ms
Nungruthai Sontiprasat: The new Vice President of Corporate Planning at
Raimon Land.
Nungruthai brings to Raimon Land years of experience and expertise in
financial analysis and corporate auditing. Before joining the Raimon Land
team she held the position of Senior Manager with TSEC Securities and prior
to that she worked as an Assistant Manager in the financial division of KPMG
in Bangkok.
Nungruthai has also been a lecturer at the College of Graduate Study in
Management at Khon Kaen University where she taught accounting and finance
courses. She holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Economics from the
University of Bristol in the U.K. and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics
from Thammasat University.
Upon her recent appointment she commented: “I am delighted to be joining
Raimon Land at this time, as 2007 will see the company experience strong
growth and diversification of it’s interests.”
Raimon Land’s CEO, Nigel Cornick added: We are very pleased to welcome
Nungruthai to our company. She brings a long track record and experience in
corporate planning in both Thailand and abroad and will assist Raimon Land
in this time of rapid expansion and competitive environment.”
FTI proposes border province industrial parks, tax relief
Faced with a severe manpower shortage, the Federation of Thai
Industries (FTI) has asked the government to consider giving tax incentives to
companies wishing to relocate to tap into migrant labour supply in far-flung
provinces along Thailand’s borders.
FTI chairman Santi Vilassakdanont said that manufacturing industries currently
faced a combined shortage of about 200,000 workers, of which 65,000 are in the
textile, garment and footwear industries alone. The electronics industry -
another top export performer - faced a further shortfall of 50,000 labourers.
The problem was raised and discussed with Deputy Industry Minister Piyabutr
Cholvijarn at a joint meeting recently.
According to Mr. Santi, the private sector called on the government to provide a
number of tax incentives - including import and excise tax exemptions - to give
businesses which decide to relocate a boost.
The Industrial Authority of Thailand was also urged to consider joint investment
with the private sector to set up and manage industrial parks in border
provinces.
It was suggested that a pilot project could be launched in Mae Sot district of
Tak province bordering Myanmar, Mr. Santi added.
The plan could face strong objection from the country’s security services and
the Labour Ministry which attempts to control the number of migrant workers in
Thailand.
Nonetheless, the FTI chairman said that a special working committee comprised of
representatives from agencies involved could be established to streamline the
approval process. (TNA)
Govt economists see rate cut boosting growth
Government economists at the Fiscal Policy Office said the Bank of
Thailand’s interest rate cut last week would help expand the economy by 0.01
per cent.
A source at the Finance Ministry, which oversees the Fiscal Policy Office,
said the positive assessment was contained in a report compiled by the Macro
Economic Policy Bureau.
The Bank of Thailand lowered its one-day repurchase rate to 4.75 per cent
from 4.9375 per cent last Wednesday after adopting the one-day repurchase
rate as its new benchmark earlier this month in favour of the 14-day
repurchase rate that had been in use since May 2000.
The bank was prompted to lower rates as a result of a recent tightening of
currency controls and more stringent investment rules introduced by the Thai
government. Consumer confidence has also dropped recently as a result of the
Bangkok bombings.
Thailand’s central bank is intentionally seeking a weaker baht to hold down
the price of exports. The country’s export business was hit particularly
hard in 2006 as the baht increased by more than 16 per cent against the US
dollar during the year.
According to the source, by keeping the 14-day repurchase rate at a higher
rate of five per cent, the central bank has, in effect, kept a tight rein on
domestic money supply and interest rates.
The rate cut would also boost the level of net disposable household income
and spending power, prompting a possible increase in domestic consumption
and investment.
But the report warned of a risk that substantial capital outflow might occur
as the interest differential between Thailand and the United States is at
0.5 per cent now. When compared with the currencies of 12 major trading
partners, the baht has weakened 0.4 per cent against the US dollar since the
rate cut and weakened the most against the British pound sterling, improving
the price competitiveness of Thai exports, said the report. (TNA)
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