Briefs

The Nation will serialise the autobiography of Dhanin Chearavanont, chairman and CEO of Charoen Pokphand Group, over 30 weekdays beginning on Monday, October 3. Readers will gain an insight into the history, development, challenges and success stories of CP Group and its founding family over the years. The articles are being reprinted with the permission of the Nikkei Asian Review.

iPhone 7 import approved

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has improved the import of Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus for commercial launch in Thailand.
The NBTC issued the import approval on September 16 for both models, A1778 (iPhone 7) and A1784 (iPhone 7 Plus). However, units imported before September 16 are illegal.
There is speculation that Apple will launch the new iPhones in the Thailand market next month.

China to probe sugar imports

Thailand is one of the countries to be included in a probe by the Chinese government over large sugar imports, according to Elizabeth Farina, the head of Brazil’s cane industry group Unica. Brazil will also be investigated.
Farina said Unica had been notified by Brazil’s Foreign Ministry regarding the probe. It is expected to send preliminary comments to China’s government by October 12. According to Farina, Thailand, Australia, and South Korea will also be investigated.
Brazil is the world’s largest sugar producer and exporter and China is its largest buyer. It bought almost 10 per cent of total Brazil centre-south exports in 2015-16 of 23 million tonnes, according to data from Unica.
“It is worrying, of course, since China is our largest buyer. They could adopt safeguards to protect their local industry,” Farina said.
Safeguards are usually implemented through sharp increases on import tariffs, she said, adding that they could hurt the flow of sugar to China.
China said last week it was launching a probe into soaring sugar imports dating back to 2011 that it said were hurting the local sugar industry.
The investigation is expected to take up to six months. – Reuters