BANGKOK, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- "When the China-Thailand railway starts operation, it will enable Thai people to travel more conveniently and boost Thailand's economic growth," said Trin Phuanglamchiak.

As the deputy chief engineer of a section of the railway in Ayutthaya Province, 80 km north of Bangkok, Phuanglamchiak noted there are "advanced railway technologies that China brings to Thailand."

The China-Thailand railway, an important part of the trans-Asian railway network, will be Thailand's first standard-gauge railway.

When completed, the line will carry trains from Bangkok to the border town of Nong Kai, where a new bridge will connect it with the China-Laos railway, making it possible to travel by train from Bangkok, through Laos, to Kunming in southwest China's. Yunnan Province.

"Once the railway is open, I would like to take a train from my hometown Bangkok all the way north to Kunming. Then I'll take my family to visit the Great Wall in Beijing," said Phuanglamchiak, who works for the China State. Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd.

"We are pleased to see the construction of the China-Thailand railway continue apace. We hope China's state-of-the-art railway technology will help us develop railway infrastructure," said Pichet Kunadhamraks, deputy director-general of the department of rail. transport.

A Sino-Thai high-speed rail training program gave Kantithat Danaut, 24, the chance to take Chinese lessons with the Confucius Institute at Khon Kaen University.

He went to Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province for an eight-month course on high-speed railway technology. Kantithat then went to Japan as an intern, but hoped to go back to China to continue his studies after finishing the internship.

"I want to bring what I have learned about Chinese technology back to serve Thailand," Kantithat told Xinhua.

"Thailand needs new development opportunities. The China-Thailand railway will not only benefit Thai industries ranging from tourism, services to trade and investment, but also boost economic development in the region," said Tharakorn Wusatirakul, deputy director of the Thailand-China Belt. and Road cooperation research center.

"The China-Laos railway has inaugurated a new era for Laos. Thailand, if not being able to accelerate the construction of the railway project, will miss out on the opportunity," Tharakorn said.

source : Xinhua

The Lao government is hoping for a trade surplus of at least USD 1.55 billion in 2022, despite the economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a recent report from the Prime Minister’s Office, exports are expected to reach 7.6 billion US dollars, while imports will total 6.05 billion US dollars, Vientiane Times reports.

To achieve this, the government has committed to increasing agricultural production and processing of items for export, particularly to China, whose markets can now be accessed more readily via the China-Laos railway.

Xinhua reports that the sectors involved have been tasked with assisting enterprises in obtaining financing, applying research and technology to production, and assisting manufacturers in sourcing appropriate markets.

The government has been attempting to build up foreign currency reserves by boosting exports and reducing its reliance on imports.

Laos reported a surprising USD 1 billion trade surplus in 2021, with exports valued at USD 7 billion and imports worth USD 6 billion.

For the full article, please click

Source: The Laotian Times

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s largest free-trade agreement (FTA), came into force on January 1, 2022. To ensure that Thailand benefits from the mega-FTA, the third phase of a special lending campaign for SMEs has commenced to facilitate exports to RCEP countries.

Under the campaign, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Bank) has allocated 3 billion baht to issue loans to SMEs, micro SMEs and community enterprises. To be eligible, a business must be looking to export products to the RCEP market. A special interest rate of 2.75% will apply for the first year of the loan, after which the rate will be 5.75%. Each business can borrow no more than 50 million baht and each borrowing application will be completely processed within 7 days. The Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) will guarantee each loan.

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said Thailand was among the core nations that pushed for the RCEP agreement. RCEP mandates that import tariffs among member countries be slashed to zero for 39,366 items. Although this currently only applies in 11 countries, Thai businesses have already made use of the export benefits granted by RCEP. Such export gains under RCEP are already valued in the hundreds of millions of baht.

According to Jurin, RCEP members Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Myanmar are formalizing the tariff waivers, which are expected to be observed by all 15 RCEP member nations by March of this year.

Businesses that would like to participate in the lending campaign for SMEs exporting to RCEP countries can contact any branch of EXIM Bank.

Source : National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT)

A Czech Republic-based private company has signed a contract to buy 35 tonnes of Kampot peppercorn from more than 200 households of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association (KPPA) over a period of 10 years.

KPPA president Nguon Lay told The Post on March 8 that EU Land and Pepper Investment Co Ltd was the eighth company to sign a direct agreement with the families, and has pledged to buy at least 35 tonnes of Kampot peppercorn – which is protected by Geographical Indication (GI) regulation.

The company previously purchased the GI-tagged pepper from the association’s families in 2021, he said, but did not have a direct contract, being one of 30 companies exporting pepper overseas.

Lay noted that at present, the Ukraine conflict has not affected the export of Kampot pepper. Nonetheless, the contract with the Czech-registered company includes force majeure, stating that the company will reduce purchases from farmers if the fighting were to impact the European market.

“This year, EU Land and Pepper Investment Co Ltd has signed a contract with 200 households to purchase 35 tonnes or more. As long as the farmers can produce it, then they will buy it all,” said Lay.

He added that the company has been encouraging the families to grow organic pepper specifically.

Tep Yoeun, one of the farmers involved in the latest deal, told The Post that, after signing the contract with the Czech-based company, he and other farmers are now planning to increase their cultivation of pepper.

He added that the company has “given a lot of confidence” to farmers, citing its promise to buy all three types of peppercorn that they are growing – and as much of it as they can produce.

Yoeun said: “As farmers, we are very happy growing pepper. It is marketed and sold at high prices, too – the company bought it from us at the price of a kilogramme of black pepper at $15, red pepper at $25, and white pepper at $28, which has made us a lot of money.”

For full article, please read here

Author: Hom Phanet 

Source: The Phnom Penh Post 

The government has drafted official roadmaps for the development of the automotive and electronics sectors in Cambodia, to create more than 22,000 new jobs and raise exports past $2 billion over the next five years.

The draft roadmaps purport to accelerate investment in the sectors towards the reskilling and upskilling of workers, develop electricity and logistics infrastructure, improve cost-competitiveness in manufacturing, build a more effective customs and trade facilitation regime to ratchet up international trade, among other things.

The instruments are the result of joint efforts by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) and seven ministries, initiated in February 2021, according to a CDC statement.

Development of the instruments was led by the CDC, with support from the UK government’s Accelerated Covid-19 Economic Support (ACES) programme and in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the statement said.

The ministries involved in the process were those for finance, land management, industry, commerce, labour, energy, and public works.

CDC secretary-general Sok Chenda Sophea said the drafting of the document “represents a commitment” by the government to ensure the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of the contained strategies, directions and mechanisms in drawing investment into the automotive and electronics sectors and increase the cost-competitiveness of their operations.

The CDC chief was speaking at a March 1 discussion on the roadmaps with British ambassador Tina Redshaw, industry stakeholders and other private sector partners.

“Cooperation with the private sector is essential to the development of these sectors, from the development of joint strategies, to the introduction and implementation of action plans, with an aim of gathering additional input,” the statement quoted him as
saying.

The British ambassador underscored the huge potential opportunities for the Kingdom in the automotive and electronics sectors.

“The UK is proud to support the development of these sector roadmaps, as well as Cambodia’s broader efforts to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, transform its economy, and create more resilient and better-paying jobs for Cambodians,” Redshaw said in a joint press release.

For full article, please read here

Author: Hom Phanet

Source: The Phnom Penh Post 

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) left its key interest rate unchanged as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), announced today that the MPC voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 0.50 percent.

The Committee assessed that the Thai economy in 2021 would expand faster than previously projected, and the recovery would continue into 2022 driven by higher merchandise exports, as well as a higher number of foreign tourist arrivals due to faster-than-expected relaxation of travel restrictions.

However, the recovery would remain fragile and uneven across sectors, especially in tourism which was below pre-pandemic levels. The Committee would monitor developments of the labor market as well as the impact of higher living costs given that income had not fully recovered.

Headline inflation in 2022 would be higher than previously assessed and could exceed the target range in the early part of the year. This would be owing to price increases in certain sectors, especially energy and raw food products. Meanwhile, upside risks to inflation increased. In particular, cost pass-through from producers to consumer prices could increase if energy and raw food prices remain elevated for longer than expected, or if the supply constraint problems broaden into other goods. 

The Committee viewed that the continued accommodative monetary policy would help support economic growth, and thus voted to maintain the policy rate. In addition, the ongoing financial and fiscal measures, with the focus on rebuilding and enhancing potential growth, would play an important part in bolstering the robust recovery of the labor market as well as the income of businesses and households.

Source : Thailand Business News

In the first two months of 2022, Cambodia exported more than 1 million tons of agricultural products to more than 50 countries, which is an increase of 9.51 percent compared to the same period last year.

This is according to the report of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Veng Sakhon.

The report stated the country has exported a total of 1,835,475 tons of agricultural products to 52 countries. According to the numbers, this is an increase 159,331 tons of products which is equal to an increase of 9.51 percent compared to January and February 2021.

The main agricultural products export is rice. The country exported 103,058 tons, which is an increase of 26,836 tons or 35.21 percent compared to the export volume in the first two months of 2021.

Cambodia exported 26,507 tons of rice to 20 EU destinations, an increase of 35.54 percent compared to last year. The country also exported 56,385 tons of rice to China, which is an increase 49.84 percent. Cambodia exported 3,141 tons of rice to three ASEAN destinations. The country also exports rice to 16 other destinations.

Local media reported that there are 41 companies in Cambodia that are currently exporting rice. The 10 largest companies have collectively exported 77,039 tons, while the other 31 companies have collectively exported 26,019 tons of rice.

For original article, please read here

Author: Khmer Times 

Source: Khmer Times 

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) announced that the combined value of foreign and local applications for investment promotion in 2021 totaled 642.7 billion baht (ca. US$19.5 billion), an increase of 59%, boosted mainly by foreign direct investments (FDI) in tech sectors and a continued increase in the value and number of projects in Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) industries, as well as the continued buildup of the power generation sector.

“Investment applications in BCG activities are continuously increasing as investors take advantage of the promotion measures that we have issued to help Thailand’s economy and companies operating here to prepare for the changing consumer demand and supply chains in the post-Covid-19 world,” BOI Secretary General Ms. Duangjai Asawachintachit told reporters.

As for FDI, we are seeing constant growth in foreign investments in target sectors such as smart electronics, specialty chemicals, bioplastics and the medical cluster.

BOI Secretary General Ms. Duangjai Asawachintachit

Electrics and electronics top the list

Electrics and electronics once again topped the list of target sectors which attracted the most applications with 104.5 billion baht in value, reflecting the soaring demand for electronics devices and parts, followed by the medical sector with 62.2 billion baht, petrochemicals and chemicals with 48.4 billion baht, agriculture and food processing with 47.7 billion baht, and automotive and parts with 24.6 billion baht.

Japan remains first country source

Japan once again topped the list of FDI source countries with a combined investment value of 80.7 billion baht for 178 projects, followed by China with 38.6 billion baht in investment pledges for 112 projects, and Singapore with 29.7 billion baht for 96 projects.

The top three sectors for FDI applications were electrics and electronics, petrochemicals and chemicals, and the medical cluster.

In terms of regions, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Thailand’s prime industrial area comprising Chonburi, Chachoengsao, and Rayong, attracted the most applications with 220.5 billion baht, an increase of 34% from 2020.

Additional Measures to Support Bio-Hub

Additional measures aimed at supporting the bioeconomy include two new businesses to be incorporated in the BOI list of activities eligible for incentives: namely “Digital Trading Platform for Agricultural Products” and “Agri-Food Industrial Estates/Parks”.

Both new activities will be eligible for tax benefits for 5 years.

The approved package also includes improved benefits and conditions for businesses involved in the production of extracts from natural raw materials and products using those extracts.

Source Thailand Business News