He said the AOT revenue board approved draft terms of reference for the bidding on Friday (October 11).

Bid documents will be distributed next month and applicants have another month to submit their bids.

Nitinai expects the competition to be fierce and believes the same firms that recently sought the duty-free concessions for Suvarnabhumi Airport and several provincial airports would also participate in this process.

OIE aims to enhance productivity and upgrade quality commodities to premium products and has put its Food Intelligence Centre to work in examining every aspect of the food industry.

The Office has also established guidelines for vegan food development to support the food industry, noting that even fast food joints such as Burger King, McDonald’s and KFC have turned to healthier options and released vegan products such as meatless burgers and vegetarian fried chicken. Kellogg Unilever and Nestlé are also coming out with new products to satisfy the taste buds of consumers. The vegan food market has grown rapidly in recent years, with non-meat eaters in the US and Europe increasing from 2 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2018 with the resultant rise in sales.

Thai businessmen and exporters should not overlook this trend, Ittichai said.

Tada explained that the combined long-term outstanding bonds of two major groups accounted for 20 per cent of total long-term outstanding bonds of the bond market. Though he did not name the two groups, referring to them only as groups A and B, it was widely inferred that he was referring to conglomerates Charoen Pokphand Group and Thai Beverage Public Co.

“Investors may think they have diversified their risks by investing in bonds with different maturities, but they may overlook the fact that they have invested heavily in bonds issued by a few issuers,” he said.

The two giants have issued long-term corporate bonds with a combined value of Bt168.9 billion in the first nine months of this year.

Meanwhile, the outstanding value of long-term bonds (maturity of one year and up) of the “A” group was much higher at Bt429.1 billion, while that of the “B” group amounted to Bt335.8 billion as of the end of September.

Outstanding long-term bonds account for 11.9 per cent of the total amount outstanding in the market for the A group, while for the B group it is 9.3 per cent, and together they account for 20 per cent of the market, which is very high, Tada said.

Though the two groups have so far not defaulted on their repayments, the ThaiBMA is worried about a concentration of risks, especially if investors focus heavily in these two groups, he noted.

In the banking sector, banks are subject to regulations that limit the amount loaned to a single borrower and there also are limits on lending to companies and affiliates in the same business group. Such regulations are designed to prevent banks from large loan exposure to one party, ensuring better risk management, he said.

However since there is no such regulation in the bond market, investors may expose themselves to a limited number of issuers, he said.

Launched by Thai Media Fund at the Ministry of Culture, “Asean Wisdom: Co-production Forum & Workshop 2019” aims to facilitate the sharing, learning and exchange of information on documentary media. The pilot project will see the co-production of 12 multicultural films from 12 Asian countries, including the 10 Asean members.

Somkiet Pantham, inspector-general at the Ministry of Culture, who will chair the project, disclosed that the move is a part of the ministry’s strategic plan for 2017-21.

The plan focuses on promoting, supporting and developing cultural network/partnership, “thus aiming to build awareness campaigns and build up social immunity and enabling us to deliver the society of civilised cultural conservation,” Somkiet said. This includes preventive media to deliver a better understanding of related law.

The ISO promotes worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial standards and comprises 164 countries.

Wanchai Phanomchai, secretary-general of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), said Thailand will participate in the ISO campaign for maintaining standards on video clips.

“Video media has become very popular across the world because it is easily accessible and can be shared via social media such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.”

However, he said, with advanced technology now available, the quality of video media available can be vastly different in terms of quality. Hence, he said, if the ISO sets an international standard for video production, the general quality of video clips will improve and help ISO member countries improve their video industry’s performance.

“The industry will be modernised and will satisfy public demand, as well as reduce production costs,” Wanchai added. “The ISO standard will also support the industry’s growth as it will boost entrepreneurs’ confidence to invest in new video-making digital programs and contest creating services.”

Meanwhile, the FTI in coordination with the Standards and Quality Association of Thailand will launch talk shows, exhibitions and events on November 23 provide information on ISO standards.

The short term measures, to be implemented this year, will see an increase in the numbers of agents and locations offering VAT refund service to foreign tourists. Also, some rules governing the travel of foreigners in Thailand will also be reviewed.

Under the medium and long term measures coming into force next year, special loans will be offered to hotels and accommodation operators to upgrade their premises.

New safety rules will be introduced to lessen the risks of accidents or death of foreign tourists.

The country will host major sports and entertainment events to attract foreign visitors while seeking more international conferences to be held here.

Thailand expects 41.8 million foreign tourist arrivals next year, with total spending of Bt2.22 trillion, said Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. This year it has targeted a total of 40 million, spending Bt2.04 trillion.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first half stood at 26.5 million, up 2.83 per cent year on year. TAT expects 13.3 million to arrive in the rest of the year.

The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, also acknowledged the latest assessment of the local and global economies.

Their projected spending in Thailand is Bt468 billion, down 1 per cent year on year, due to the tourists adjusting their holiday budgets in response to the baht strengthening against their home currencies.

For the last four months of this year, Centre expects the number of European tourist arrivals to be about the same as the same period in 2018.

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, some 4.44 million European tourists visited in the first eight months of this year, a 1.9-per-cent drop. The decline was seen mainly in the markets of Russia, Germany, Sweden, and France.

This year’s high season was challenging for the sector as the country faced both a stronger baht and tougher competition as other destinations stepped up tourism marketing campaigns.

Though the growth of the PC market has slowed, high-performance computers are needed by gamers, Santhosh Viswanathan says.

Intel will now convert from a PC-centric company to one that is data-centric in accordance with the growing data business, he said.

The company has already moved in that direction by tripling its staff in Thailand to collaborate with local allies in order to reach customers in every segment of the industry and has shifted innovative development to meet market demand.

Since Thailand is an important market and has many opportunities, Intel will prioritise the growth of the whole ecosystem and focus on customers in the IoT industry and e-commerce businesses, particularly business-to-business companies, he said.

Moreover, Intel will study new technology markets by supporting video game service providers and computer manufacturers in e-sports tournaments, the managing director said.

Intel’s human resources have not increased much in the past three years, but the company’s moves suggest that investors in AI and IoT investors have their eyes on Thailand once again.

Intel recently has debuted its 10th generation processor that enhances computer performance with a new wifi adapter and graphic processor allowing customers to experience powerful visuals.

The Intel Gen 10th is now available in 31 models of the world’s leading computer brands, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and MSI.

Principal adviser Chaiyut Kumkun said BMW and Bentley have this year paid 102.9 per cent more than in the previous year, while Mercedes-Benz was spending 1.8 per cent more.

“We found that imports of expensive cars slowed in 2018 after the Department of Special Investigation began examining the trade and Customs considered additional taxes,” Chaiyut said. “The new taxes were announced this year, but the import business is active again to meet high demand in this country.”

Car imports generated more Customs revenue this year than any other sector, he said. Tax collected on passenger cars was Bt1.28 billion, a 30-per-cent increase over 2018, car parts brought in another Bt8.16 billion, and buses Bt2.1 billion.

With Bt108 billion collected in 2019, Customs’ target for 2020 is Bt111 billion.

The bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) is confident that its reduction in the interest policy rate in August will support economic expansion and help return headline inflation to its targeted framework, the assistant governor of the Monetary Policy Group said after a meeting on Thursday between BOT executives and analysts representing financial markets.

“The MPC will closely monitor risk factors, especially the effects of escalating trade protectionism, and is ready to use policy tools if needed,” Titanun Mallikamas said.

It will also closely follow via several channels exchange rates and capital flow and their impact on the baht, he said.

“The MPC will introduce additional measures in suitable circumstances, including some on which the central bank could take action right away, such as relaxing the rules on capital outflow and encouraging Thais to invest overseas,” said Titanun.

He said the BOT needs to collaborate with other agencies, like the Board of Investment, to promote investment in the country and thus reduce the current-account surplus, which remains high.

To offset the slowing economy and low interest rates, the bank must improve efforts to regulate financial institutions via micro-prudential measures and maintain financial stability via macro-prudential measures, Titanun said.

It should also collaborate with other agencies to tackle high household debt and business debt, which demand separate strategies since they dealing with different groups of clients, he said.

He noted that some people are financially sound, some with high debt and some who lack financial discipline. The central bank and other agencies have to jointly promote financial discipline, debt restructuring, household savings and responsible lending by financial institutions, he said.