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Thailand Future Fund The Finance Ministry is now preparing to issue the Thailand Future Fund after the Securities and Exchange Commission Thailand (SEC) finalised the rules for the issue, Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said yesterday.
“We are considering what kind of infrastructures will apply to the fund before making a decision to issue the fund after the SEC approval,” he said. The ministry plans to issue the Thailand Future Fund, worth Bt100 billion , for investment in the country’s infrastructure projects.
Philip Morris pleads not guilty
Tobacco giant Philip Morris yesterday pleaded not guilty to dodging hundreds of millions of dollars in import tax to Thailand, a crime carrying a massive fine of up to US$2.27 billion (Bt79.7 billion).
Thai prosecutors accuse the local unit of the company, which owns the Marlboro and L&M brands, of evading some Bt20 billion in taxes by under-declaring import prices for cigarettes from the Philippines from 2003-06.
In fact, the duty-free end price of the cigarettes was much higher, according to prosecutors.
The company and seven Thai staff pleaded not guilty according to a written statement read out by a judge at a pre-trial hearing at a Bangkok court.
If convicted, prosecutors say the company could be fined up to four times of the sum of unpaid tax, while the employees face a maximum of 10 years in jail.
Four foreign executives have also been charged but have left the country in a case that dragged for a decade.
The company “vigorously” denies the “baseless” allegations, Alejandro Paschalides, managing director of Philip Morris Thailand, said after the hearing.
“We would like to encourage the Thai government to reconsider these meritless charges which will harm Thailand’s standing in the trade community and ultimately cause damage to the Thai economy and thus the Thai people,” he added in a statement.
The cigarette manufacturer insists that its import valuations complied with World Trade Organisation agreements and had been cleared by local Thai customs officials.
The legal issue has simmered since 2006 under the administration of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, shortly before his ousting in a military coup.
The next hearing will be in October but the trial is likely to drag out for a number of years. – Agence France-Presse
Power usage hits new high
Electricity demand hit 28,475.3 megawatts at 2.53pm yesterday , when the temperature averaged at 36.6 degrees Celsius, according to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. It is the third power peak recorded this year. Both previous peaks were also booked this month, with the latest one made on April 19 at 28,351.7 MW.
