Both nations should get ball rolling on Asean single market: Lim. Thailand and Singapore will go ahead with bilateral single-market plans to get other Asean countries to work faster in developing a single market in the region by 2020, Singapore’s minister of trade and industry, Lim Hng Kiang, said in Bangkok yesterday.

Govt may look abroad for project funds

The government may have to seek soft loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to finance the first phase of its mass-transit expansion plans because it may take longer to fund the projects by other means, a source in the Transport Ministry said yesterday. He said the projects could be delayed if the government waits for a holding company to be set up to raise funds on the stock market to finance the project. Moreover, the cost may increase if the government seeks loans from other financial institutions, which tend to charge higher interest than the JBIC.

TPI sale rests in high court’s hands

Thai Petrochemical Industry’s court-appointed administrator said yesterday that an upcoming Supreme Court ruling on a petition by TPI founder Prachai Leophairatana could change the amount of shares that will be allotted to existing non-creditor shareholders in a planned offering.

BoI eyes expatriate service hub

Boonklee Plangsiri, chairman of a Board of Investment (BoI) sub-panel, will propose that the board turn Thailand into a hub for expatriates in the service industry by offering them personal income tax incentives.

TOT faces big revenue loss from new fees

TOT Plc estimates that it will lose roughly Bt7 billion annually because of new interconnection charges. TOT president Teerawit Charuwat said the company would submit a new interconnection rate to its board today and, if approved, it will be submitted to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

STREET WISE: Thai PMs and lame excuses

Don’t blame Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for his sudden obsession with astrology. Modern history has shown how Thai premiers often find lame excuses to dodge difficult questions raised by reporters.

ECONOMIC FORUM: BOT sees better growth prospects

Last two months may lift likelihood for expansion of 4.75 per cent for the year

GHB’S PLANNED BOND ISSUE: Bad loans sold off to BAM

The Government Housing Bank (GHB) has sold non-performing loans with a book value of Bt7.77 billion to the Bangkok Commercial Asset Management Co (BAM), in preparation for a securitised bond issue next year.

Fitch sees challenging 2006 for banks

Fitch Ratings said yesterday the favourable operating environment of the past four years was becoming more challenging, with rising interest rates and oil prices and a decline in business and consumer confidence expected to affect economic growth next year.

Krungthai Car Rent sets IPO price

Krungthai Car Rent and Lease Plc (Kcar) will be traded on December 1, with an initial public offering (IPO) price of Bt4.40 a share.

Ministry mulls ways to boost investment

The Finance Ministry has completed a study of capital flows, mechanisms to tap investment, and means of preventing global financial trends negatively impacting on Thailand, Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya said yesterday.

Move to get cooperatives into futures trading

The Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand has asked the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to encourage cooperatives to participate in trading farm-product future contracts.

BIZNEWS ROUND-UP

- Aromatics (Thailand) Plc said yesterday that the new accounting standard prohibiting listed firms from paying dividends without first covering their share discount, would not affect the firm’s capability to pay a dividend as it has a policy of paying out at least 20 per cent of annual net profit.

TELECOMS: TT&T seeks out overseas partnership

New broadband unit needs joint venture partner

Yum Yum maker mulls Bt100m plant

Wan Thai Foods Industry Co Ltd, maker of Yum Yum instant noodles, is considering spending Bt100 million next year to build a new plant.

Guzzle beer on the go

Thai Asia Pacific Brewery, the local producer and distributor of Heineken beer, yesterday launched its new portable draught-beer system, the five-litre Heineken DraughtKeg.

BUSINESS DIARY

08.30 Taxation seminar

COMPANY REPORTS

AIKCHOL HOSPITAL’s board approved the appointment of IFCT Advisory Co Ltd as a financial adviser and N&A Appraisal Co Ltd as appraiser for assets under consideration.

SHIN CORP ROW: Turning crisis into opportunity

Boonklee: Company will emphasise more transparency

Volatility forces more ‘scenario planning’

KI Woo takes a closer look at Peter Schwartz’s decade-old book on business “scenario planning”, a topic which has been very much in the news of late.

Big hopes for fashion

Ten months since its launch, the Bangkok Fashion City has laid a foundation to help the clothing industry export Bt100 billion a year and reverse a three-year slide in foreign sales.

Canadian ex-FM advises on bird flu

After Sars, bird flu, the tsunami, the hurricane and now bird flu again, it seems that human security is emerging as an increasingly important issue on the global agenda.

Nok-pecked PB Air cuts its routes

PB Air has reduced the number of flights it operates on the Bangkok–Nakhon Si Thammarat route to seven per week from 17 after Nok Air pecked holes in its business with cheaper fares.

LATE NEWS: Thai food

Cooking classes’ popularity rises