Global financial crisis has cost |Thailand's economy Bt800 billion

The economic meltdown has strongly affected industrial manufacturing, which has in turn led to greater unemployment and reduced consumer purchasing power.

Although the Kingdom is seeing the global economy start to rebound, political turmoil, type-A (H1N1) influenza and reduced agricultural production are important factors restraining Thailand's economy.

KResearch forecast the local economy would be brighter in the next three months, with growth increasing from 74 per cent to 84 per cent.

Osmep and SME Bank sign MoU

The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (Osmep) has joined hands with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand to promote tourism, handicrafts and furniture.

The move is a bid to boost exports to fellow Asean member countries.

Deputy Osmep director-general Pak Tongsom said a memorandum of understanding between the two agencies was signed yesterday. They will work to promote Thai SMEs in the Asean Community under the "SMEs Flying Geese" project, designed to help SMEs improve their export opportunities by meeting international standards.

Targeted industries to be developed include tourism and related businesses, handicrafts and furniture, printing and screen printing, food and fashion design.

Thai Polycons PSM to extend runway

A subsidiary of leading construction firm Thai Polycons will expand the runway at Narathiwat Airport.

Charoen Chanpalangsri, managing director of the company, said Thai Polycons PSM recently signed a Bt474-million contract with the Aviation Department to expand the airport's runway by 500 metres, bringing its total length to 2,500 metres.

The agreement extends its backlog to Bt1.9 billion. The backlog is expected to reach Bt4 billion this year. This will help the parent achieve its targeted full-year revenue of Bt2.1 billion.

Red Line bidding documents

The State Railway of Thailand next month will sell bidding documents for construction of the Bt60-billion Red Line electric-train route, with the bidding process to be completed within 15 months.

Governor Yutthana Thapcharoen said the bidding would cover all three contracts for the project. The first contract will be for construction of Bang Sue Station and a maintenance centre, the second for civil work and the third for the electrical and mechanical (E&M) system.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is financing the project, said Thai firms could lead the construction consortia bidding for the first two contracts. The SRT has asked the JICA to allow Thai companies also to bid for the E&M system. Its answer will be submitted to the SRT board. - The Nation

US tariffs affect tyre prices

Tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese rubber tyres caused market turmoil on Monday, said Piyaporn Saelim, manager of export trade group the Thai Rubber Association.

Thailand is the world's largest producer of the material. Rubber prices in Tokyo dropped as much as 9.3 per cent to ¥195.1 (Bt72.50) per kilogram on Monday.

The news caused turmoil in Thailand's rubber trading market, with traders trying to determine the long-term impact.

The short-term impact has been significant, with the global and domestic prices of rubber slumping. China is Thailand's biggest rubber-export market, last year accounting for 820,000 tonnes of the Kingdom's total rubber exports of 2.6 million tonnes. - Bloomberg