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Indian ambassador assures good ties
India’s ambassador to Thailand, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, yesterday met Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula to confirm the two countries’ smooth relationship and cooperation.
Shringla said Thai investors should join in projects in India, particularly in the Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridors. India is also interested in the Dawei project in Myanmar, where Thailand is cooperating in the development of a deep-sea port and special economic zone, he said.
Derivatives trading
Derivatives trading on the Thailand Futures Exchange in the first nine months surged 88 per cent to 127,536 contracts per day from a year earlier.
TFEX, under the Stock Exchange of Thailand, yesterday reported total trading volume of 23,339,171 contracts, with mini SET50 futures and stock futures still the most popular products.
In the period, stock futures represented 56.6 per cent of trading, SET50 futures 37.5 per cent and gold futures 4.8 per cent. Open interest as of the end of last month soared 301 per cent to 1,367,106 contracts with investor accounts rising to 96,992.
Retail investors accounted for 56 per cent of trading, followed by institutional investors for 36 per cent and foreign investors for 8 per cent.
On September 25, trading hit an all-time high of 524,478 contracts.
20-year air travel
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its first 20-year passenger growth forecast, projecting that passenger numbers will reach 7.3 billion by 2034.
That represents 4.1-per-cent average annual growth in demand for air connectivity that will result in more than a doubling of the 3.3 billion passengers expected to travel this year.
Among the highlights of the report is the expectation that China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest passenger market (defined by traffic to, from and within) by 2030. Both markets, however, are expected to remain the largest by a wide margin.
In 2034 flights to, from and within China will account for some 1.3 billion passengers, 856 million more than 2014 with an average annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent, IATA predicts. Traffic to, from and within the US is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 3.2 per cent that will see 1.2 billion passengers by 2034 (559 million more than 2014).
