However, she is confident that under her leadership the SET will achieve its targets of the development of a second equity market and growth in market capitalisation to the same level as the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

"I'll say quite frankly that that I'm concerned about the new position, but I believe that I will achieve the target because of the support I have from efficient executives and staff, and my 30 years experience," she said Thursday in her first press conference.

Patareeya is the second woman to head the bourse in its 30-year history and will hold the position for four years. Her main priority is to boost its capitalisation to meet a 2010 target.

"The target is for our market capitalisation to match the size of the country's gross domestic product within five years. It's now around 70 per cent of GDP," Patareeya said. The capitalisation is now around Bt5.2 trillion.

She said that the weakness of the Thai stock market discouraged companies from listing on the bourse, even though the government offered tax privileges and other incentives for newly listed companies. The small investor base is a consequence of the limited products available in the market, she said.

The SET has coordinated with large commercial banks, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Thai Industry to persuade quality companies to list. But she said the exchange would likely miss its target of 100 new listed firms this year due to poor market sentiment based in part on lingering political uncertainty. Since the beginning of the year there have been only four initial public offerings.

"We hope we can get at least half the ultimate target, or around 50 new companies this year," Patareeya said.

She said the exchange would not focus on the number of IPOs but on their size and quality. "We will concentrate on companies exceeding Bt5 billion in market capitalisation. We have a target to boost market capitalisation by at least Bt200 billion this year and that is quite possible, as companies with a combined size of Bt150 billion are under the Securities and Exchange Commission's scrutiny process," she said.

The SET targets offerings by export-oriented, high-technology and energy companies, she added. The higher number of listed companies would draw a higher number of stock investors and this would help boost the market's price-to-equity (P/E) ratio, which is very low at 8-9 times.

To increase the P/E ratio the exchange will introduce new products to attract investors. The first product, to be launched by the end of this year, will be the Exchange Traded Fund, or ETF, whose returns will be linked to selected listed companies. The first type of ETF will likely be linked to 20-25 blue chips in the SET, she said.

The SET plans to reach two million taxpayers through the Retirement Mutual Fund (RMF) and the Long-Term Equity Fund (LTF), which have a total size of Bt150 billion.

"Encouraging stock investment via mutual funds would also increase the number of institutional investors to give the market more stability," said Patareeya.

Commenting on her successor in the position of executive vice president, she expected that someone from within the organisation would be picked for the post.

Siriporn Chanjindamanee

The Nation