Inundated Ayutthaya industrial estate to be dry by Nov 25

The flooded Hi-Tech Industrial Estate in Ayutthaya is expected to resume operations following natural drainage and pumping by Nov 25.

Officers of various agencies including the industrial park itself, the Thai army, and the Royal Irrigation Department have been draining water from site since Nov 8. The water level there has receded from 4.9m to about 4m, of which 60cm subdued naturally.
Currently some 6.5 million cubic meters of floodwater were left at Hi-Tech. According to military personnel the water is expected to be completely drained by Nov 25 with the pumps removing about 800,000 cubic meters/day.

Hi-Tech Industrial Estate has been under water since Oct 13. Covering over 2,400 rai of land, it has 143 plants and provides employment for more than 51,000 workers with an investment of around Bt65 billion.

Thirty percent of the plants are for electric appliances, electronic items and scientific equipment. Other types of businesses include rubber, plastic, artificial leather, machinery, spare parts, steel and other metals, as well as motor vehicles. (MCOT)
 

Cabinet approves debt moratorium for low-income earners

Thailand’s Cabinet last week approved a debt moratorium for farmers and low-income earners with outstanding debts lower than Bt500,000, according to Deputy Finance Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom.

The project is intended to alleviate the financial problems of this segment of the public and aims to help them to use money wisely to rehabilitate their families and restore their well-being.

The debt moratorium will apply to customers of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC) and the bank’s customers in the violence-impacted southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. It includes customers using the services of the Government Savings Bank, the Small- and Medium-Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank), the Government Housing Bank (GH Bank), the Islamic Bank of Thailand, and the Secondary Mortgage Corporation, whose debts are non-performing loans (NPLs) or debts arising from debt restructuring.

Debtors must as well be in the Personal Income Tax system, while each must have their initial loans altogether in financial institutions of no more than Bt500,000 as of June 30 of this year.

Boonsong said 12.48 percent, or 775,090 of all accounts fall in this category for the six institutions above, with outstanding debts of about Bt90.5 billion, or 5.76 percent of the overall outstanding debts of these banks.

The project will allow the debt moratorium of both initial loans and interests for three years, from Oct 1 this year to Sept 30, 2014. Once the project is finished, customers will start paying their debts according to new debt plans made by the six financial institutions.

During the suspension period, debtors cannot request further loans from the institutions but they can leave the project before the three-year period. They will also be offered vocational training programs according to their geographic location and knowledge, as organized by the Finance Ministry and related agencies.

Bank customers eligible to participate in the program could register at all six financial institutions beginning Nov 15, while the registration and selection process will last for three months. (MCOT)
 

AFG looks at tomorrow, and the next year

Chris Bruton presents his mini-seminar entitled, “What’s up (and down) in the world today (and implications for Thailand).”

Dr. Iain Corness

The Automotive Focus Group (AFG) held a very successful and popular mini-seminar entitled, “What’s up (and down) in the world today (and implications for Thailand)” given by the always erudite Chris Bruton from Dataconsult.

After introduction from the AFG President James Beeson, Chris Bruton presented an overview of the world economics and pointed out that growth was expected to continue, though this would be weaker than previously anticipated in 2011 and 2012. He also presented tables to show that world GDP growth was expected to be around three percent, but in the developing countries it was expected to be between five and six percent.

The European debt crisis would affect the rest of the world, which is why the Eurozone could not afford to let Greece go to the wall, and he did put forward the concept that perhaps the developed nations could not really afford the aid programs they have been giving. With China exporting to the US, there may be a slowing there, which will adversely affect America, and then with flow-ons go to other developed nations. A commodity downturn is expected. There is a very delicate balance in international trade versus international aid.

Developing countries which have high exports as a share of GDP will then be high risk, and this includes Malaysia at 110 percent, and to a lesser extent Thailand at 69 percent. Fortunately, Thailand has a low debt expressed as a percentage of GDP. He discounted Africa as being a major player at this stage, despite the raw materials, saying whimsically, “If they had socks, they would have to pull them up.”

Chris Bruton gave the opinion that next year for Thailand, “Is not looking bad. We are in a better position than many, though tourism will suffer because of lower levels of household wealth overseas.” He gave the view that the post-flood reconstruction will benefit the economy, though the proposed increase in the minimum wage will not.

He concluded by saying that the outlook for the US and Eurozone will be challenging. For Thailand it will have the double challenges of the western world and our own reconstruction. “Will the political will be enough?” he asked, in this situation of conflict.

His final words contained the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times!”

The AFG once again showed it is a very viable grouping amongst the automotive industry, presenting interesting and thought-provoking items at its meetings. People within the industry who may be interested in finding out more about the AFG can contact the secretariat through [email protected].