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BoI opening office in Mumbai
The Board of Investment will tomorrow open its 14th overseas office, in Mumbai.
Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk is leading a delegation of ministry and BOI officials as well as businesspeople on a roadshow to Mumbai from tomorrow to Thursday.
State and private representatives of both countries will take this opportunity to hold a discussion on the establishment of the India-Thailand Business Forum.
India, with a 1.2-billion population, is the world’s 10th-largest economy and Asia’s third-largest, after China and Japan.
From 2007 to last year, the BOI granted investment privileges to 114 Indian investment projects worth Bt30.2 billion, including those of Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand), Apollo Tyres (Thailand) and Tata Motors (Thailand).
Among the Thai companies doing business in India are Italian-Thai Development, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Pranda Jewelry, Thai Summit Auto Parts Industry and Pruksa Real Estate.
After the opening in Mumbai, the BOI will have offices in 10 countries.
SEC invites comment
The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking public comment on draft revisions to the rules governing the establishment and management of infrastructure funds and real-estate investment trusts (REITs).
The proposed revisions intend to facilitate and promote the establishment of the funds by lowering the unit-holding limit of infrastructure-asset owners and improving vote-counting methods for seeking unit-holders’ resolutions.
The rules governing debt-linked investment units and the rules on seeking unit-holders’ resolutions for capital reduction will also be revised with the aim of clarifying and relaxing the requirements, respectively.
Regulations for REITs will be relaxed to allow the commercial banks performing the function of REIT trustee to participate in a REIT’s related businesses, providing that a Chinese wall (information barrier) to prevent conflicts of interest among their business units is in place. The relaxation will also extend to the commercial banks’ subsidiaries.
With regard to applications for the establishment of a property fund permissible to be filed no later than the end of this year, the fund to be set up must be in the form of a specific property fund.
The consultation paper is available on the SEC website, www.sec.or.th. Stakeholders and interested parties are welcome to submit comments through the website or e-mail at [email protected] until today.
Streaming broadcasts
BEC-Tero Music has partnered with Major Cineplex to launch “streaming concert live broadcasts” via satellite with the focus on the performances of famous Japanese bands as part of its move into new businesses.
It will broadcast concerts of two bands, Perfume and VAMPS, from July 6-7 at Major Cineplex Ratchayothin. The admission fee is Bt500. It also plans to expand the service to major cities in the future.
Commart sales hit Bt3 bn
Commart Next-Gen saw consumers spend Bt3 billion over the four-day information-technology fair, which ended on Sunday, according to fair organiser ARIP.
The hot products were smart phones and tablet computers.
Water contract
Global Environmental Technology Co, which is 49 per cent owned by TEE International’s wholly owned subsidiary TEE Resources, has formed a consortium with Cisco Engineering Co and Lam Water Solution Co to enter a contract with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to manage and control the water level in the Makkasan Water Catchment area by periodically pumping water into the Chao Phraya River.
The contract awarded to the consortium is worth more than Bt209.78 million and commenced on May 1 for a period of three years.
Global Environmental Technology will own 30 per cent, Cisco 50 per cent and Lam 20 per cent in the consortium. The TEE group’s total effective interest in the consortium is 14.7 per cent.
BOT tackles losses
The Bank of Thailand’s board of governors yesterday approved the plan to reduce its huge losses incurred by its sterilisation measure. As of last month, accounting losses amounted to nearly Bt700 billion. Huge capital inflows required the central bank to issue bonds to absorb excess liquidity. This resulted in losses and a build-up of foreign reserves in the past months.
Chanchai Boonritchaisri, assistant governor for the Management Assistance Group, said that after changes in some wording, the plan would be submitted to the Finance Ministry for the Cabinet’s approval.
PTT eyes Myanmar
PTT is geared up to funnel more investment into Myanmar to extend its presence from the upstream oil and petroleum business to downstream.
Pailin Chuchottaworn, president and CEO, said yesterday that following billions of dollars of investment in the past years by PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), the national oil and gas company has started marketing lubricants in the country. It is also building a standard fuel station on the highway linking Yangon with Nay Pyi Taw.
GSB cuts rates
The Government Savings Bank yesterday cut its minimum retail and overdraft rates by 0.125 percentage point to support fund accessibility while leaving deposits rates unscathed.
The MOR has dropped to 7.25 per cent from 7.375 per cent and the MRR to 7.625 per cent from 7.75 per cent, president Worawit Chailimpamontri said.
The GSB’s People’s Bank project celebrates its 12th anniversary today with plans to cut its flat rate for loans below Bt100,000 to 0.5 per cent per month from 0.75 per cent, effective for new applicants from July 2-December 31. Deposit rates remain at 0.75 per cent for personal savings, 1.5 per cent for special savings, 1.875-2 per cent for three-month deposits, 2.35 per cent for six-month deposits, 2.5-3 per cent for 12-month deposits, 2.75 per cent for “24 M Plus” fixed deposits, 3 per cent for “36 M Plus” fixed deposits and 3 per cent for zero tax monthly fixed deposits.
Cabinet to review plan to spin off Thai Smile
Thai Airways International expects the Cabinet to consider its plan to spin off Thai Smile as a subsidiary over the next week or two.
Chokchai Panyayong, the company's senior executive vice president for commercial, said becoming a new company would make Thai Smile easier to operate while also fleshing out THAI's network more completely.
THAI has positioned Thai Smile as a “light premium” airline, which connects with THAI more effectively than Nok Air, a low-cost carrier. THAI holds 39 per cent of Nok Air.
Chokchai said the airline business was highly competitive, with a rising number of players in the market. The business will have to adapt quickly to cope with the changing business environment. THAI will manage its business carefully to serve passengers' demand, he said.
AWN has 2.6m users
Advanced Info Service subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) already has 2.6 million subscribers after the debut of its 2.1-gigahertz third-generation broadband wireless service last month.
Currently its network covers 31 major provinces with 5,000 cellular base stations, a number expected to rise to 6,000 covering 67 provinces next month. It aims to cover 77 provinces with 8,000 bases in August before achieving nationwide coverage with 10,000 bases by December.
AWN targets 10 million customers this year.
TripAdvisor takes over GateGuru
TripAdvisor, a major travel website, has acquired GateGuru (www.gateguruapp.com), the leading mobile resource for flight and airport information around the world.
Built on a mix of user-generated content and information from the airports, the application offers flyers detailed maps and insights on stores, restaurants, amenities and gate locations. Combined with weather forecasts, estimated security wait times and real-time flight-status information, the award-winning app aims to take the stress out of flying.
“Flying is often an essential part of a trip, and we have continually developed our suite of flights products, from the pricing and availability search on TripAdvisor, to our award-winning SeatGuru.com, with seat maps and more,” said Steve Kaufer, co-founder and chief executive officer of TripAdvisor.
The GateGuru team will continue to operate out of New York City, and report to Bryan Saltzburg, general manager for new initiatives and leader of the TripAdvisor Flights product and SeatGuru brand. Terms of the acquisition will not be disclosed.
