Briefs

Xayaburi Power Co has agreed to award a variation order worth Bt19 billion to Ch Karnchang Plc for additional construction work to optimise the environmental performance of Xayaburi Hydroelectric Power Plant as requested by the Mekong River Commission in order to mark the power plant as an “Excellent Project on the Mekong River”.
Ch Karnchang is confident that it can complete the project as planned and that the plant will be ready to generate electricity in 2019, president Supamas Trivisvavet said yesterday.
The terms for the variation order have been finalised and the signing is expected this quarter, she said.
As the largest shareholder of CK Power Plc, which holds a majority of XPCL, Ch Karnchang and other major shareholders are ready to support XPCL with a sponsor loan for investment in these additional works.

FITCH AFFIRMS RATINGS
OF TOP THAI BANKS

Fitch Ratings affirms the ratings of Thailand’s four largest commercial banks.
The Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings on Bangkok Bank, Kasikornbank and Siam Commercial Bank have been affirmed at “BBB+”, while the Long-Term IDR of Krungthai Bank has been affirmed at “BBB”.
Fitch has also affirmed the National Long-Term Ratings of two of the banks’ subsidiaries - Kasikorn Securities and SCB Securities – at “AA-(tha)”. The outlooks are stable.

ECONOMY, JOB SECURITY STILL MALAYSIAN

Malaysian consumer confidence remains stable at the start of the first quarter of this year with 79 percentage points, according to the latest Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions.
In the latest online survey, confidence levels in Southeast Asia continue to remain resilient with four out of six countries in the region scoring above the 100 mark.
The Philippines (119), Indonesia (117), Vietnam (109) and Thailand (105) are the bright spots in the region’s growing and emerging market as they retain their titles as the 10 most confident countries globally while Singapore scored 88. – The Star

ASEAN+3 FOSTER
LABOUR COOPERATION

Asean labour ministers and their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields within their remit during a meeting in Vientiane, Laos yesterday.
The ninth Asean Plus Three Labour Ministers’ Meeting took place as part of the 24th Asean Labour Ministers’ Meeting.
The officials shared their viewpoints and proposed measures for supporting the transition from informal to formal employment.
They hailed efforts to promote labour cooperation between Asean and the three partner countries as a whole as well as between Asean and each of them individually, especially in workforce training, labour relations and occupational safety. – Viet Nam News