Newsfeed

The Cabinet yesterday approved leaving the value-added-tax rate at 7 per cent for another year. The VAT rate had been scheduled to return to the normal 10 per cent on September 30.
The 7-per-cent rate will now be in effect until September 30, 2017.
Kobsak Pootrakool, vice minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, said the low VAT rate was being extended as a way to build up business confidence while limiting the impacts on people’s standard of living amid the fragile global economy and fluctuations in the global money market.
The extension of the 7-per-cent VAT rate is expected to cost Bt256.9 billion in government revenue during the 2017 fiscal year.

IVL JOINT VENTURE COMPLETE

Indorama Ventures, a global chemical producer, has announced the completion of a joint venture between its Indian subsidiary Micro Polypet with Dhunseri Petrochem, also in India.
Simultaneously, IVL has acquired a 50-per-cent stake in Dhunseri Pet Global Ltd.
By combining the two companies as equal partners, the resulting total capacity of 700,000 tonnes per annum will make the new joint venture the second-largest producer of PET (polyethylene terephthalate, a common type of plastic) in India, said Aloke Lohia, IVL group CEO.
The potential for growth in the PET industry in India is significant given that per capita consumption there is currently 600 grams per annum, as compared with 2.6 kilograms per annum in China and 10.9kg per year in the United States.
The joint venture will gain from significant synergies as being the sole producer of PET resin in northern and eastern India, IVL says.

14 THAI FIRMS NAMED IN DJSI

The Stock Exchange of Thailand has announced that 14 Thai listed companies have been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), one of the most highly regarded global sustainability indices.
This reflects Thai listed firms’ potential and quality towards global standards and underlines the SET’s strategic plan to promote the sustainability of the capital market, the bourse said.
This list consists of one newcomer, Kasikornbank (KBANK), in addition to the 13 Thai firms already recognised by the DJSI. Significantly, Thai Oil (TOP) was ranked the highest, for the second consecutive year, among the 159 global firms in the Energy Industry Group.
Five of the 14 selected firms, namely KBANK, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) and Siam Cement (SCC), have been elected to the 2016 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.
Advanced Info Service (ADVANC), Airports of Thailand (AOT), BANPU, Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), Central Pattana (CPN), IRPC, KBANK, Minor International (MINT), PTT, PTTEP, PTTGC, SCC, TOP and Thai Union Group (TU) have been chosen to be in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index.

SEC PUBLIC HEARING

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking public comments on proposed revisions to the rules on related party transactions (RPT) and material transactions (MT) of property funds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), infrastructure funds and infrastructure trusts.
The proposed revisions aim to enhance transparency in executing such types of transactions while the unitholders to be affected by such material transactions would have sufficient time to study relevant information, participate in the consideration process, and make an informed investment decision.
The consultation paper is available at www.sec.or.th/hearing.
The public hearing ends on September 20.