Briefs

Thai Factory Development has launched the MFC Industrial Investment Fund (M-II), which will invest in the company’s ready-to-move manufacturing plants at TFD Industrial Estate, located in Chachoengsao’s Bang Pakong district, and Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate in Pathum Thani.

The company has also transferred the right to receive rental income from its subsidiary Total Industrial Services, which manages warehousing at Lam Chabang Industrial Estate in Chon Buri province.

M-II, which will be set up by year-end, will raise capital of at least Bt970 million. Under the company’s plan, Thai Factory Development’s revenue this year is now expected to come in at Bt1.8 billion, double the earlier estimate of Bt903 million, CEO Apichai Taechaubol said yesterday. – The Nation

Mazda kicks off easy-own

promotional campaign

Mazda Sales (Thailand) is going full-steam ahead in an attempt to stimulate the auto market further.

After fully participating in the government’s first-car buyer programme right from the start, Mazda has launched a second stimulus measure with an easy-own promotional campaign that includes free first-class insurance for two years, free two-year maintenance and a low 1.99-per-cent interest rate.

Meanwhile, Mazda has been enjoying tremendous growth in Thailand, and last month the Mazda2 achieved the highest sales figure for the year at 3,616 units. The Mazda BT-50 PRO pickup also saw sales surge by 309 per cent to 3,115 units, allowing Mazda to achieve total sales of more than 7,000 vehicles for the fourth consecutive month.

During the first 10 months of the year, Mazda sold almost 60,000 units, up 69 per cent compared with the same period last year, said Choichi Yuki, managing director of Mazda Sales (Thailand).

"Mazda enjoyed more exceptional popularity in October than in previous years, and sales have exceeded 7,000 units for the fourth straight month," he said.

Real Estate Capital turns

Mercury into lifestyle mall

Singapore-based Real Estate Capital Asia Partner is spending Bt300 million to renovate the Mercury Building on Bangkok’s Chidlom Road into a lifestyle mall called The Mercury Ville @ Chidlom.

The project has utilisable space of 60,000 square metres, comprising 18,700sqm of office space and 7,200sqm of retail space.

The lifestyle mall will have a soft opening in the first quarter of next year, company president Suchart Jeranussti said at a press conference yesterday. This is the fifth Real Estate Capital Asia Partner investment project in Thailand.

PwC puts faith in Myanmar

by opening Yangon office

PricewaterhouseCoopers has opened a Myanmar member firm, bringing the reach of its network in Southeast Asia to nine countries.

PwC Myanmar’s new office in Yangon was opened by PwC Singapore executive chairman-designate Yeoh Oon Jin.

He described the company’s return to Yangon as a vote of confidence in the reforms that it has witnessed in the past year, and PwC’s commitment to the people of Myanmar.

The country has great potential for sustained growth thanks to its unique location adjacent to China, India and Southeast Asia, he said.

SCG offers to share knowledge on

sustainable development with RP

Siam Cement Group is seeking the Philippine government’s support to promote sustainable development in the country, a senior executive said yesterday.

Pramote Techasupatkul, chairman of SCG’s sustainable development committee and president of SCG Cement, said in an interview that the Philippine government should work closely with the private sector in establishing sustainable development practices.

Sustainable development is a global agenda being pushed by concerned companies and is determined by the resulting balance in the economy, society and environment, he said.

SCG is willing to share its knowledge in sustainable development with the Philippine government, and Manila officials could then use these guidelines to encourage local businesses to adopt a sustainable development policy, Techasupatkul said during the "SCG Asean Sustainable Development Symposium" in Bangkok. – The Nation

Hun Sen calls for Asean

to remove all trade barriers

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has called for the complete removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers when the Asean Economic Community comes into effect in 2015.

"Tariff and non-tariff barriers should be completely dismantled as the decisive step towards deeper economic integration," he said during an Asean symposium. "Asean can announce this decision when it declares the establishment of the AEC in 2015."

Hun Sen also called for enhanced trade facilitation, further services liberalisation and a regional framework for liberalising and facilitating cross-border capital flows. At the same time, "connectivity and transport facilitation should be further enhanced for creating a single market and resilient production base in Asean", the PM said. – Rasmei Kampuchea Daily/Asia News Network