Briefs

The cuts are in line with the Bank of Thailand’s reduction in the policy interest rate last week, he said.

Rise in KTB business

client confidence

The confidence of Krung Thai Bank’s business clients improved in the final quarter of last year when compared with the previous three months, due to the severe floods having begun to recede in the period.

Senior executive vice president Sompit Chareonkietkul said the bank’s confidence index in the fourth quarter had increased to 56 points from 53.5, as enterprises gained confidence in post-flood government spending enabling the economy to recover quickly this year.

Business clients said the key drivers were the funding injection through the Bt2.38-trillion budget for the 2012 fiscal year, the hike in civil servants’ salaries, the first-home and first-car purchase schemes, and the reduction in corporate tax.

Meanwhile, lending by financial institutions to businesses is also helping to ease concern over the impact of global volatility on the Thai economy, he added.

Aviation safety event

to be held on Monday

Valley Aviation will host an executive event on Monday in collaboration with Mitre Corp from the US to promote best practices in aviation safety management in the Kingdom.

"The event is intended to raise the awareness of possible improvement areas in aviation safety practices. The materials will be presented by the internationally acclaimed expert Bruce Killian. This is a great opportunity for Thai aviation executives to get a global snapshot of the latest advances in safety management," said Punsa Roengpithya, managing director of Valley Aviation.

Valley Aviation is a specialist consulting firm focusing in various domains in aviation, including air-traffic management, information technology and critical maintenance.

Mitre is a not-for-profit organisation that provides systems engineering, research and development, and IT support to the US government.

The event is scheduled to take place at the Amari Don Muang hotel. Admission is free.

Tisco Asset switches

management system

Tisco Asset Management, one of the largest asset managers in Thailand with more than US$3.3 billion (Bt102 billion) under management, has decided to use the Charles River Investment Management System.

The company will replace its current in-house system and spreadsheets and consolidate onto Charles River’s enterprise solution to improve automation and provide portfolio, order and execution management, and real-time compliance testing and monitoring across all asset classes, including Thailand’s complex fixed-income instruments.

IATA reports mixed

picture for last year

The International Air Transport Association has reported that full-year 2011 passenger demand rose 5.9 per cent compared to 2010, in line with long-term growth trends.

In contrast, cargo markets contracted by 0.7 per cent, but recorded positive demand growth of 0.2 per cent in December.

Growth in demand lagged capacity increases of 6.3 per cent (passenger) and 4.1 per cent (cargo), putting downward pressure on load factors, IATA said.

The average passenger-load factor last year was 78.1 per cent, down from 78.3 per cent in 2010, while the freight-load factor was just 45.9 per cent, down from 48.1 per cent. – The Nation