She said officials from the department have been meeting with communities in Narathiwat on August 27 and 28, including the Tak Bai Salted Kula Community Enterprise Group, which produces geographical indication products, as well as small and medium enterprises that produce garments, processed seafood etc.

The department will also provide information on how goods can be exported to Asean countries, she said.

According to the department’s survey, the first seven months of this year saw 26.6 per cent of total fresh durian exports worth US$988.4 million (Bt30.2 trillion), or $263.8 million, being exported to Asean, followed by the US, Japan and Europe, she said. Export of durian in the first seven months rose 4.3 per cent compared to the same period last year, which recorded durian exports worth $947.6 million.

The decline in MPI could be attributed to three factors: 1) industrial product exports expanded by just 0.004 per cent during the month; 2) car production in July fell 6.7 per cent for the third drop in three consecutive months with domestic sales and exports falling 1.1 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively; 3) Industries Sentiment Index (TISI) dropped in July to 93.5 points from 94.5 points in June, the lowest in seven months.

Industries with the biggest impact on Thailand’s MPI are distilleries, non-alcohol beverages, air conditioner, palm oil, and furniture.

OIE forecast the MPI will expand by 0.5 per cent, in line with the indicators of industrial growth rate.

The ongoing tit-for-tat superpower trade conflict has intensified with China announcing on August 23 a set of preparatory tariffs of between 5 to 10 per cent on $75 billion worth of US goods. US President Donald Trump responded by raising existing tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods by 15 per cent, effective December 15.

Despite playing down the spike in trade tensions on Monday by saying that negotiations are now back on the table, the economic and financial impacts on the world economy have led to much uncertainties.

Thailand’s economy, in particular, stands in the cross-fire of the trade tensions as the Kingdom produces electronic parts and agricultural products that are sent to China before being shipped to the US. Hence, the tariffs imposed between the two countries directly impact Thailand’s own exports, causing the country’s volume of shipments to decline in the first half of 2019.

“The deterioration of the US-China trade conflict has further depressed global trade and investment sentiments,” said Chatree Rojana-Arpa, executive vice president for strategy and product development at KTB Securities (Thailand).

The worsening sentiment in the global economy will continue to have an adverse impact on Thailand, which is an export-reliant economy, said Mana Nimitvanich, first vice president of Krungthai Bank’s Global Business Development and Strategy Group.

Furthermore, the baht is likely to get stronger in the upcoming months if the trade war continues as the US Federal Reserves will be more inclined to again lower interest rates , Chatree said.

This will cause the US dollar to depreciate against the Thai currency, he added.

Thailand, he said, is seen as a safe haven for global investors and if the trade war is prolonged, investors will continue to invest in Thailand’s bond market, accelerating the baht’s rise against the US dollar.

The Bank of Thailand has tried to limit hot money inflow into the Kingdom and even lowered the country’s policy interest rate in an attempt to keep the baht strength under control. However, the impact of these measures are yet to be seen clearly, he claimed.

“The central bank is also worried that lowering interest rates further will worsen the problem of household debt as well as risking the imposition of US sanctions as Thailand has been included in the country’s watch list of currency manipulators,” said Mana.

Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand) has predicted that the baht will remain strong at Bt30.5 per US dollar in the rest of 2019.

“We are not sure if the baht strength can be kept under control by the central bank in the upcoming months as safe haven inflows continue into Thailand’s bond market ,” said Tim Leelahaphan, a StanChart’s economist.

On Monday, Thailand’s bond market saw a net inflows of Bt1.83 billion from foreign companies, according to the Thai Bond Market Association.

“The baht’s strength will lead to negative impacts on Thailand’s exports and tourism figures. As long as the trade war continues, this negative impact will stay,” Chatree said.

Private exporters must work closely with the public sector in identifying export opportunities in China and the US as the two countries lose out on each other’s markets, said Kriengkrai Thiennukul, vice chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries.

Exporters must increase their marketing efforts, particularly in smaller cities in China where market penetration from Thai firms is still relatively low, Charee said. This way, exporters can capitalise on the opportunities that arise from the trade war, he added.

Kriengkrai also called on the public sector to be more active in negotiating free trade agreements.

Furthermore, he said, the government must do more to promote locally produced products so that exporters can make more domestic sales amid global economic uncertainties.

“We have seen various measures launched by the Thai government recently to boost domestic consumption,” Tim from StanChart said.

“However, there is yet a concrete plan to boost Thailand’s exports, the biggest loser of the trade war, ” he said.

The amount of money being stored in Thailand by foreign investors has decreased, it said on Tuesday.

The central bank on July 22 introduced two measures to reduce the outstanding balance of non-residents’ baht deposits for both non-resident accounts for securities and non-resident baht accounts, from Bt300 billion to Bt200 billion maximum per account.

The volume of currency speculation in Thailand has since declined significantly, said the bank’s assistant governor, Vachira Arromdee. Foreign speculators are more cautious about investing in Thailand, she said.

Thailand, as many other countries do, also requires the disclosure of names of foreign investors wishing to invest in its bond market, she said. This is in order to understand their intent.

Thaweesak Wanitcharoen, director general of the Tourism Department, said on Monday that his department is in the process of studying how to amend the Tourism Business and Tour Guide Act of BE 2551 to increate penalties.

Thaweesak said the amendments would allow the authorities to more quickly punish tour guide and operators of tourism businesses through a three-step process of issuing a warning, suspending licences and revoking licenses.

In the case of severe wrongdoing, the authorities may skip the two precedent steps and directly revoke licenses, Thaweesak said.

He said his department pondered the amendments because tourists affected by the malpractice of tourism business operators were having to wait quite a long time to get their money back.. The planned amendments would require the operators to quickly return money to affected tourists, Thaweesak added.

He said his department is also studying how to set minimum prices for tour packages to prevent tourism operators from participating in extreme price competition that would eventually cause negative effects on tourists.

Thaweesak said the study on the minimum prices for tour packages should be done within this year.

Minister Uttama Savanayana said on Monday (August 26) the planned revamp would sharpen Thailand’s global competitive edge and ensure fair assessment for all citizens and private firms.

Committee members will be representatives of the three tax-collection departments and the Fiscal Policy Office, with Prasong Poontaneat, the ministry’s permanent secretary, as chairman.

It will meet for the first time on Friday, Uttama said.

The tax system overhaul would include both reductions and hikes, he said, as well as an expansion of the collection base.

Revenue Department director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas meanwhile said his agency would push the House of Representatives to vet an e-business bill this month with an eye to having the law take effect next year.

The department collected Bt1.59 trillion in taxes in the first 10 months of the fiscal year beginning last October 1. The figure exceeded the original estimate by Bt48.44 billion and was Bt3.1 billion more than collected in the same period last year.

“We expect to achieve Bt2 trillion in tax revenues by the end of this fiscal year,” he said.

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has written to commercial banks asking them to disclose statistics on the recent glitch in their mobile-banking applications on their websites by August 30.

It said that since information technology (IT) plays a significant role in commercial banking, any disruptions will have a widespread impact on businesses. The letter also said that users must be provided with updated information on key services such as mobile-banking applications, internet banking, ATM, CDM and bank branches. It added that commercial banks must provide reports on glitches in banking technology in every quarter of the year, so BOT can manage the risks and improve the systems to ensure they are safe and stable for local services and international exchange.

Thakorn Piyapan, chief of Krungsri Bank’s consumer group and digital banking, said his bank has already prepared a report and is making plans for future digital banking services as online customers are increasing constantly.

“We don’t have any problems with reporting to the public. Every bank, including Krungsri, has been improving its online services so they are stable as online transactions have been growing since the beginning of the year,” Thakorn said.

Thaweelap Rittapirom, executive director and executive vice president of Bangkok Bank, said all banks have acknowledged this measure, adding that revealing the statistics to the public is a good thing and that all banks should follow BOT’s demands so people can make the right decision on banking services in the future.

“Yesterday [August 26], the BOT urged banks to provide the report and informed them of the measures. For BBL, we have been careful and have been closely monitoring the service systems,” Thaweelap said

The SET Index closed at 1,622.73, down 1.45 per cent at the end of the day, while its morning trading session closed at 1,611.77, falling 2.12 per cent, in reaction to the intensifying trade spat.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak came out to soothe rattled traders later in the day, saying that the SET and Bank of Thailand were keeping a close watch on the volatile market.

Liu, who has been leading trade negotiations with Washington, said that China has sufficient policy tools and is capable of ensuring stable and sound economic development.

The vice-premier’s remarks came after the ongoing trade tension between the world’s two largest economies further escalated with both sides deciding to levy more tariffs on each other’s exports.

“We resolutely oppose technology blockades and trade protectionism …. and are willing to resolve problems through consultation and cooperation in a calm attitude,” Liu said at a technology conference in Chongqing, a major city in Southwest China.

“We believe that the escalation of the trade war is not beneficial for China, the United States, or to the interests of the people in the world,” he added.

Liu said that China is shifting focus from a high growth rate to higher development quality, and the economy is full of dynamism. “We have sufficient macro policy tools and we are capable of ensuring stable and sound economic fundamentals,” he said.

The vice-premier also said that China welcomes companies from all over the world, including the US, to invest and operate in the country, and the Chinese government will continue to create a good investment environment and protect intellectual property rights.

The goal is to brainstorm on solutions to the crisis of resource constraints by using the circular economy as a major component with the approach of “Resource maximisation, Waste Separation, and Proper Disposal” to ensure resource efficiency throughout the manufacturing and consumption cycle.

The symposium aims at creating a sustainable business, combating plastic pollution in the oceans, improving the living of  people in the community, and managing industrial waste. The event  highlighted solutions encompassing infrastructure system, knowledge sharing and innovation as well as technology development and waste treatment. The alliance also pushed forward the proposal on waste management as a national agenda.

SCG president and chief executive officer Roongrote Rangsiyopash said that with the growing global population estimated to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, it will lead to  rising consumption demands despite finite resources. Data show that Thai people produce an average of 1.15 kilogram of rubbish per person, and the waste generation rate is on the surge.

In 2018, Thailand contributed 28 million tonnes of waste. If lacking proper waste management and disposal practices, wastes will leak into the oceans, triggering the loss of marine biodiversity as   evidenced by the death of young dugong Mariam. Hence, the concept of the circular economy is a solution to help alleviate these problems as it promotes the regenerative model of make-use-return. This concept also includes the approach of “resource maximisation, waste separation, and proper disposal” to preserve natural resource and pass it to the next generations, he said.

Throughout the past year, SCG  incorporated circular economy principles into its business activities under three strategies: 1 Reduced material use and durability by reducing resource use in the manufacturing and developing products with extended usage duration  such as micro flute corrugated packaging which is attractive, durable but requires less paper and the development of PE112 plastic resins for submarine pipeline construction to supply freshwater to Koh Samui. The pipes have improved pressure resistance, thinner walls and less plastic used; 2 Upgrade and replace by developing innovation to replace existing products and raw materials with new ones that offer higher efficiency while minimising resource usage or making them recycle-friendly. It includes developing building materials that eliminate waste generation such as modular toilet, precast wall, cut-to-size autoclaved aerated concrete, fest food packaging to substitute foam container, and flexible packaging that is durable and easily recyclable, and the development of plastic resins used as automotive components which is lighter in weight yet provide strength and energy-saving benefits; 3 Reuse and recycle by enhancing recyclability such as  developing product with higher proportion of recycled materials in the production, partnering with modern retail trade and supermarkets to collect used boxes and paper to increase recycling, and developing plastic formulation which allows a mixture of higher proportion of recycled plastics by leveraging SMX Technology. This innovation can enhance recycled plastic properties which now makes up 30 per cent  of plastic resin materials used in the manufacturing.

In 2018, SCG converted about 313,000 tonnes of industrial waste per year into renewable raw materials and turned 131,000 tonnes of industrial waste  into fuel substitution.

This year,  SCG has continued to integrate circular economy principles into product manufacturing and has set the target of reducing the production of single-use plastic from 46 per cent to 20 per cent by 2025 and increasing the proportion of recyclable plastic packaging to 100 per cent by 2025, he said.

However, to achieve the goal of a circular economy, government-driven infrastructure development, stringent regulations, and strict waste management will not be enough to drive changes. “Collaboration” of all sectors is a crucial element to make the circular economy a reality. It is a pleasure to see the dedication of 45 network partners from five global organisations, three government agencies, 29 businesses, and eight  schools and communities coming together to create models in compliance with circular economy principles to tangibly maximise resource usage and solve waste problems from upstream to downstream operations, ,” Roongrote comcluded.

The “SD Symposium 10 Years: Circular Economy – Collaboration for Action” is held to forge collaboration of all sectors, the vital driving force to establish a circular economy in Thailand and achieve sustainable development goals.

The symposium was attended by Thai Prime Minister  Prayut Chan-o-cha, representatives from the United Nations, WBCSD and leading organisations from Thailand and abroad.  Moreover, the event also featured discussions on lesson learned from success stories of all sectors for further implementation.