briefs

Moody's Investors Service says the outlook for Thailand’s “Baa1” local and foreign government bond ratings is stable.

The ratings are based on moderate levels of economic and institutional strength, a high degree of government financial strength and a low-to-moderate susceptibility to event risk. Thailand’s relatively large size and the diversification of its economy are balanced against per capita income that is lower than its peers, Moody’s said. 

The floods that persisted throughout the second half of last year represented a mere cyclical shock, rather than a structural one, and a rapid V-shaped recovery is currently under way. – The Nation

 

CTS plant restarts 

CTS Corp’s electronics manufacturing services factory near Bangkok, which was shut down because of major flooding in the fourth quarter of last year, has been fully restored and is now operational, the company announced. 

Production has begun to be transferred from its California facilities back to its Thai operations during this quarter. Normalised production levels for all customers are anticipated by the end of June. – The Nation

 

Insurance MoU

Taiwan is expected to forge closer relations and partnerships with Thailand, based on a memorandum of understanding that was signed in Taipei yesterday. 

The MoU will serve as the basis for financial cooperation, information exchanges and experience-sharing between the two sides, with the aim of strengthening the stability of both economies, said David Sun, chairman of the Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC). 

Singha Nikornpun, president of Thailand’s Deposit Protection Agency (DPA), signed the MoU on the Thai side, while Howard Wang signed on behalf of the CDIC in his capacity as the corporation’s president. 

“To further strengthen our cooperation, this MoU permits both organisations to work more smoothly toward our common goal – developing and enhancing the deposit insurance system,” Nikornpun said at the signing ceremony. 

The DPA is the eighth international organisation with which the CDIC has signed such an MoU. 

As most of the cooperating countries are in Asia, the CDIC has been working on finding more European countries with which to collaborate, according to corporation officials. – China Post, ANN

 

Tourism summit 

The international travel and tourism industry’s annual summit opened in northern Japan yesterday, as the sector moves to recover from a year filled with economic turbulence and natural disasters.

The four-day “Global Summit”, organised by the World Travel and Tourism Council, hosted delegates in the city of Sendai, an area that was devastated by last year’s earthquake and tsunami, which hammered Japan’s tourism industry.

Choosing Sendai was “fitting ... to show solidarity on behalf of the entire travel and tourism industry with both the country and the region affected”, the council said in a statement.

The second half of the summit, which ends on Thursday, will be held in Tokyo. 

“The last 12 months have been exceptionally turbulent,” the council said, citing the European debt crisis, global political and economic instability and “wildly fluctuating” 

currency and commodity prices.

The summit, with nearly 1,000 delegates, aims to “tackle some of the most pressing issues facing travel and tourism and to set the agenda for the future health of the industry”, it said. – AFP