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Sommai presents Thai outlook to Apec
Finance Minister Sommai Phasee on Wednesday provided an outlook of the Thai economy to the 21st Apec Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Beijing.
Thailand needs a short-term stimulus package to allow its economy to expand by 1.5 per cent this year, he said. The country plans to narrow the gap between rich and poor, invest in infrastructure projects and try to increase private involvement in public projects.
He also claimed and stressed to China Central Television that the situation in Thailand had returned to “normal” after the military’s overthrow of the elected government.
He expressed hope that investors and tourists from China would be more interested in travelling to the country.
The meeting brought together 19 ministers from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member economies along with representatives from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to discuss the slower-than-expected recovery of the world economy and the economic potential of the Apec region.
S&P issues ratings
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services issued 12 downgrades and nine upgrades in the Asia-Pacific region last quarter, compared with 19 downgrades and 16 upgrades during the first half of the year.
Australia had the most downgrades in the region with four. The region’s negative bias – the proportion of issuers with negative outlooks or on CreditWatch with negative implications – has eased since the beginning of the year.
The Asia-Pacific downgrade-to-upgrade ratio increased to 1.3 times in the third quarter from 0.6 in the second quarter of this year.
Pentair opens office
In a move it says is aimed at offering customers access to the broadest portfolio of products, solutions and services on the market, Pentair, a global leader in products for water and other fluids, thermal management and equipment protection, has opened an office in Bangkok.
The new office centralises five business units in one location. It is now home to senior management and expert staff supporting a broad spectrum of businesses, including aquatic systems, flow technologies, filtration and process, technical solutions, and valves and controls, country manager Choochart Kaewphokang said yesterday.
Nissan EV production discussed
Nissan president Hiroyuki Yoshimoto met Industry Minister Chakramon Phasukavanich and discussed possible electric-vehicle production in Thailand. The Nissan executive said the firm was Japan’s biggest EV maker.
Yoshimoto acknowledged Thailand’s incentives for investment in automotive production but said Nissan would wait until EV batteries are more efficient and affordable before considering production of electric cars here. That could take another decade, he said.
An EV costs about Bt1 million in Japan and its batteries account for half the price.
Nissan considers Thailand an important base for its auto production. This country was the company’s first overseas manufacturing base, and its production here has continued for 60 years.
Chakramon said automotive sales in Thailand should rise next year as the local economy is likely to grow by 3.5-4 per cent on the expected global recovery as well as drought that will raise the prices of Thai farm products.
Bangkok Airways chat
Bangkok Airways has introduced a new channel of communication between passengers and airline’s reservations and ticketing office, including call centre 1771.
Bangkokair.com now has a “Live Chat Platform” to facilitate and enhance the services offered to passengers.
Prote Setsuwan, vice president for marketing of Bangkok Airways, said the airline was committed to developing innovative systems by introducing new technology to make the flying experience more convenient.
Passengers who are interested in communicating with the airline through this new channel can simply access www.bangkokair.com under Passenger Service and then select PG Live Chat.
ICBC Leasing bonds rated
Fitch Ratings (Thailand) has assigned ICBC (Thai) Leasing Co’s Bt4.3-billion three-year guaranteed bonds final national long-term ratings of “AAA(tha)”. The outlook is “stable”.
The bonds are guaranteed by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Thai).
The rating action follows the completion of the bond issue as well as the receipt of final documents conforming to information previously received.
Tata notes’ rating assigned
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services assigned its “BB” long-term issue rating to a proposed issue of unsecured notes by India’s Tata Motors.
The issue rating is subject to S&P’s review of the final issue documentation. Tata Motors expects to use the proceeds from the proposed notes primarily to refinance a part of its debt and fund its capital expenditure.
The rating on the unsecured notes is equalised with the corporate credit rating on Tata Motors. S&P does not notch the issue rating in India for priority liabilities.
