He said that in financing the investment, Thailand would wait until August for an answer to a loan request from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

If the JBIC does not give an answer by then, the government is ready to finance the project with domestic funding, he said.

Kosit also insisted that the government would proceed with the investment, which would cost more than Bt160 billion. - The Nation.

IRPC report denied

Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn yesterday commented on a newspaper report that General Saprang Kalayanamitr, assistant secretary-general of the Council for National Security, and Prachai Leophairatana, founder of IRPC, planned to approach him about the repurchase of IRPC shares from the Finance Ministry.

He denied any knowledge of such an approach and insisted the ministry had no intention of selling any shares in IRPC, formerly Thai Petrochemical Industry. - The Nation.

Big quarter for Honda

Asian Honda Motor, Honda's Bangkok-based Asia-Oceania regional headquarters, announced that exports from Thailand in the first quarter were up 25 per cent over the same period last year, at Bt24.44 billion.

Based on the successful first quarter, exports for the year are anticipated to exceed Bt95 billion.

Thailand has been a major export centre for Honda since 1987, including automobiles, motorcycles, completely knocked down kits, spare parts and accessories.

 President and CEO Tatsuhiro Oyama said that this success was mainly driven by its CBU (completely built unit) automobile export growth to Australia.

In the first quarter, CBU automobile export volume increased 77 per cent from 11,382 units to 20,194 units and value rose by 111 per cent to Bt10.8 billion. Much of this growth is attributable to strong acceptance of its products from customers, especially the new CR-V, exported to Australia and the Philippines. - The Nation.

Don Muang's future

With parts of Suvarnabhumi Airport under refurbishment, Don Muang has come under the spotlight again, this time as a possible second airport.

Feasibility studies will be carried out within a four to five month period to gauge the capacities of Bangkok's old airport in passenger and cargo services, said Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um.

In the future, there is a possibility for these two airports to run concurrently, he said.

On another occasion, after meeting with all major local airlines to discuss the implications of the impending Open Sky policies - Sansern urged the carriers to carefully study the new international standard guidelines. Negligence in, say, a new regulation on landing in a particular country might result in a hefty fine, he warned.

The meeting also discussed how Thai-based airlines should adapt to the new regulations on aircraft transit, which is likely to increase competition from aboard. - The Nation.