Nalinee has big stakes in 25 firms
Nalinee Taveesin, the newly appointed Prime Minister's Office minister, is a major shareholder in 25 companies that run businesses ranging from cleaning services and air ticketing to spas and telecommunication.
Appointed as the Thailand Trade Representative (TTR) by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government in August, Nalinee holds a 4-per-cent share in those companies and serves as a director in eight of them.
Many of the businesses also have another politician – Kriengsak Chareonwongsak – as majority shareholder. Kriengsak is also an honorary consul-general of Zimbabwe.
Nalinee, meanwhile, is on a US blacklist because of her alleged business links to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. In November 2008, she was described by the US Treasury Department as being a businesswoman who facilitated a number of financial, real-estate and gems-related transactions on behalf of Mugabe’s wife Grace.
However, Nalinee denies being involved with Mugabe’s regime, saying the ban had resulted from a “misunderstanding” and had nothing to do with her wok.
The businesses that the 25 companies are involved in include book and compact-disc sales, travel agencies, air-ticket and hotel-room reservations, consumer products, agricultural products, clothing, cleaning service, computers, Internet and telecommunications, spas and real estate, the Isra news agency reported.
The companies include Success Development, Success Books, Success Media, Success Information Systems, Success Broadcasting Network, Success Aviation, Success Biotech, Asia Broadband, Global Solar Power, Royal Asia Products, Spa Management and Consultant, Asianet Plus and Aquatis.
Last September, a month after she was appointed as TTR, Nalinee invited ambassadors from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco to discuss measures to boost trade with Thailand, particularly in rice, processed food, medical products, consumer products, cars and automotive parts, and electrical appliances. These products were in addition to tourism, construction, spas and Thai restaurants.
In the same month, Nalinee also met with Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Thailand and a regional airline manager to discuss trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, particularly in the areas of energy, pharmacy, construction, logistics and tourism.
In October, Nalinee visited India in a bid to boost trade and investment in the areas of energy, construction and computer software.
Last month, she met with Portuguese Ambassador Jose Carlos Serafino to discuss trade and investment between the two countries, regarding tourism, energy, mining and wine making.
Critics have noted that many of the sectors that Nalinee has focused on during her meetings with foreign leaders are the businesses that her 25 companies are involved in.
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