Despite the stock sales, the government is still shouldering loss of more than Bt500 billion from the rice pledging scheme , the source said.

Over 125 brands and companies from 10 countries alongside more than 3,639 national and international trade visitors from 31 countries gathered, to explore this new chapter in the medical devices industry; raising the bar for medical devices standards and supporting the push to position Thailand as Asean’s medical hub.

The second edition of MDA will be held on July 10-12 2019, at Hall 1-2, Impact Exhibition Centre in Bangkok.

Loy Joon How, general manager at Impact Exhibition Management Co Ltd, said: “The first edition of MDA 2018 exceeded our expectations due to strong support from the public and private sectors. This event showcased the latest medical innovations and technology, covering a comprehensive range of products and services, including general surgery; orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation medicine; radiology and diagnostic imaging; medical laboratory; IT in health care; medical instruments and consumables.”

Veerasith Sinchareonkul, executive director at Sri Trang Gloves Thailand Co Ltd, who exhibited at MDA 2018, said: “We are a major player in the medical and health care industry and we recognised MDA 2018 as a vital event for the industry.

“We exhibited at the event to contribute to the expansion of Thailand’s medical device market. Exhibiting at MDA 2018 served as a public relations tool to increase the awareness of our business, enhance our reputation and present our products to our customers. This show is an all-encompassing medical devices exhibition in the region.”

They hope the programme can build on efforts by Myanmar’s ministries of Labour, Immigration and Population and the of Social Welfare, Relief and Settlement.

Government authorities, embassies, labour groups, overseas employment agencies, community-based organisations, NGOs and UN agencies will outline a shared roadmap that will inspire the effort in Myanmar over the next five years.

The meeting will ensure that the project aligns with national priorities and those of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and international legal frameworks on migration, anti-trafficking, ending violence against women and promoting women’s rights.

The Consultative Dialogue is part of a series of 10 national consultations being held in each Asean member-country.

Women migrant workers are contributing to the development and economies of both the country they work in and their homelands, sending significant amounts of money home and bringing back skills and contacts.

The Myanmar 2014 Population Census using backward-projection methods estimated that 4.25 million people (nearly 20 per cent of the Myanmar labour force) were living abroad.

Women make up nearly half the migrants in Thailand, China and Japan and just over half in Singapore.

Women work as domestic helpers, factory staff, sex workers and in agriculture and construction. According to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016, Myanmar migrants remitted US$3.5 billion to Myanmar in 2015, nearly 5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Myanmar women continue to migrate for livelihood reasons, and migration can be a positive experience, in which they gain skills, find meaningful employment, and gain more opportunities for themselves and their families.

Through migration, women can inform and change social, cultural, political and gender norms and can influence positive change across households and communities.

Yet some women migrants find that they cannot access legal and social support when they face problems. They can also suffer from discrimination – both as migrants and as women – which can result in isolation, unfair working conditions or abuse and exploitation.

Women migrant workers can face sexual, physical, psychological and economic violence – at home before migration, during migration and upon return. Whether migrating through regular or irregular channels, women can face the risk of violence from intermediaries and employers, as well as from partners and others.

Women who are in an irregular situation and women working as domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, violence, forced labour and trafficking due to their status and isolation.

Fear of being deported, reluctance to report abuses to legal authorities, language and cultural barriers are among the obstacles, women who have experienced violence face, when accessing services such as health care, justice, police or social services.

The positive experiences and contributions of women migrant workers can only be fully ensured if their safety, labour and human rights are fully protected and migration becomes a safe and fair process for them.

 Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Thailand Focus forum yesterday, Veerathai said that he was worried about the short-term inflows over the past few days as they had been more pronounced than those seen by other countries in the region.

“The central bank has been closely monitoring short-term inflows and the movement of the baht. We feel uncomfortable that some investors have used Thailand to park their short-term funds,” the chief of the Bank of Thailand (BOT).

He said that measures such as a reduction in short-term bond issuance to counter inflows may be reconsidered later.

Asked about interest policy normalisation, Veerathai said that any rise in the policy rate would depend on updates to economic conditions. Inflation has started to move closer to target but it remains low, he said.

Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of the year was relatively high at 4.8 per cent, but households are still cautious about spending due to their high debts.

The trade dispute between the United States and China poses a threat to Thailand’s economy, he said. Some Thai companies that have close links with manufacturers in China have felt the impact. However, other firms may benefit from the conflict as some US importers may turn to Thai products to avoid the higher tariffs on Chinese goods, Veerathai added.

Kobsidthi Silpachai, head of capital markets research at Kasikornbank, said that the baht moved lower against the US dollar yesterday, trading at around 32.72 to the greenback after Veerathai’s comments.

The baht also reached a near-six-year high against the yuan. A stronger currency would be bad for the tourism industry as one in three visitors came from China, Kobsidthi said.

Thailand is expected to have a current account surplus equivalent to 9.4 per cent of GDP this year, after having reached 10.5 per cent of GDP last year. Thailand ‘ s current account surplus ratio to GDP is the third highest after Singapore and Taiwan, making the baht attractive for investors, added Kobsidthi.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak yesterday pledged that the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) would be a regional market for the so-called CLMVT subregion – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand – in the next few years.

Delivering his opening speech at the annual Thailand Focus forum yesterday, Somkid said that over the past four years the SET’s market capitalisation had increased by US$120 billion. This led to a market capitalisation of up to $500 billion, or 116 per cent of GDP.

At the forum, he told the fund managers who were visiting from around the world that the SET Index is trading, on average, at around 1,700 points – boosted by strong listed companies.

“The SET is set to link with exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai and will also link with capital markets in CLMV countries. And within a few years, the SET could be the hub for the CLMVT region,” said Somkid.

Many Thai firms have become stronger after emerging from the 1997 Asian financial crisis and were not affected by 2008 global financial crisis, he said. Thai firms now also make direct investments in other countries.

The economy has also been returning to a growth path after the political stability of the past four years, said Somkid.

Against this backdrop, Thailand’s economy has a bright future, according to Somkid.

Foreign direct investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) over that past two years was $670 billion, he said.

Large numbers of Japanese and Chinese investors had visited the EEC recently as they were interested in investing in the zone, he added.

The SET said that 161 fund mangers attended the Thailand Focus conference this year, along with executives from 115 Thai listed firms with a combined market capitalisation of Bt 13.65 trillion. By market capitalisation, this corporate turnout at the event represented 78 per cent of the market.

Pramon Sutivong, ACT chairman, said that he gave full marks to Prayut but conceded that their close relationship have aroused suspicion and this is a problem aside from the bureaucratic system.

Once a policy is set, given the limitations and conditions of the bureaucratic system, it may take some time to transform an organisation, he said.

Throughout the seven years of Pramon’s work in ACT, starting before the Prayut-led government, moves against corruption were hampered by low government cooperation with the organisation. It changed when the current government took power, he said.

This government has given cooperation to anti-corruption activities and has introduced several measures to lessen corruption, however, it is still not enough, he said.

Briberies have reduced sharply due to frequent inspections on possible corruption but if the inspection system weakens, corruption will rise , he said.

In response to the question on ACT’s participation in the inspection of the government’s construction projects, Pramon said the organisation’s qualified observers have taken part in examining key projects and the ACT helped lower the budget by 25 per cent, he said.In regard to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Prawit Wongsuwan’s luxury watches, Pramon said that he has urged and found the way to proceed this matter with the related persons, asking the media to follow up this delayed matter with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)’s inspection. ACT has earlier sent a letter asking about this matter.

“I’ve seen that this matter has been reflected by the society and now, what we can do is waiting for the formal result from the NACC which has not yet identified the certain schedule,” Pramon said.

The new companies will hire 282 Thai employees, the department said.

From January to August, 178 foreign firms have established thier presence in the Kingdom with Bt8.56 in total investment.

This will be an unprecedented demographic change in Chinese history in the absence of epidemics, famine, or conflict. Eventually, China will lose its position to India as the most populous country in the world, something the UN predicts will happen around the middle of the next decade.

This decline in population comes with social and economic challenges. When a population declines, the number of workers, alongside their output, might drop. This has led to some alarming predictions about China’s future growth potential. However, it is not all doom and gloom. Far from it. High standards of living are attainable despite significant population ageing. This is not always widely acknowledged.

There are two common misconceptions surrounding China’s demographic transition – one with regards to changes in household spending and a second regarding preparations for life in retirement.

To understand the first issue – household dynamics and consumption – consider China’s small household size and high female labour participation rates. The average Chinese household consists of about 3 persons compared with India’s 4-5. This is the result of China’s now abandoned one-child policy and continued low birth rates.

Then there is the participation of women in employment. Mao Zedong once famously declared that women “hold up half the sky”. In the 1970s, reforms were introduced to integrate women into the labour force by promoting education and employment opportunities. As a result, many Chinese women are employed and contribute to household income.

Thus, in the average Chinese household more people earn an income while there are fewer “mouths to feed” compared to, say, an average Indian household. And, as they age, many Chinese parents now see their sons or daughters leave home and start making a life on their own. They become “empty-nesters”. And many of them are in a comfortable financial position. Their mortgage is often paid off and there is already a nice car to impress the neighbours.

About 47 million Chinese live in homes where income exceeds US$50,000 per year. The number of these households will likely grow and equal that of the US in the next two decades, reaching an estimated 222 million in 2038. Middle-aged people (40-64 years old) account for around 40 per cent of this high-income bracket.

This means that incremental consumption in China is increasingly driven by these older, affluent “empty-nesters”. They are moving from acquiring possessions to spending on experiences. Clustered in wealthy, aspirational eastern China, they are on the look-out for better homes, healthier lifestyles, and a ticket to see the world.

Eventually, these older Chinese will retire. To some, this is a worry, given the absence of a well-funded pension system. Already, in parts of Asia, the absence of such a pension system is causing people to work longer and changes their savings behaviour. Korean and Japanese men face this reality now and tend to work the longest – nearly 30% of Koreans aged over 65 are still employed.

To ensure continued consumption after the official retirement age, many will accumulate savings and build capital. This will be used to make investments in the domestic economy, allowing for economic growth. Think of pension funds investing in companies, buying bonds, issuing mortgages or buying commercial real estate. As a consequence, per capita income will grow faster.

This “capital deepening” is already unfolding in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and there are signs that mainland China will follow. Governments should support this trend with policies that encourage the accumulation of assets.

Thus, China’s demographic story is often misunderstood. This is not to say that the decline in population is without challenges. However, there are also opportunities. The emergence of a Chinese version of “dual-income, no kids” households will dramatically alter some of the dynamics in consumer markets.

Meanwhile, “capital deepening” should provide a boost to economic growth that offsets the primary effects associated with ageing – fewer younger people taking care of a growing group of elderly people. Ageing does not have to be a precursor of pending doom. Indeed, it is more likely that ageing can support growth.

With the right policies in place, it might well turn out in China that “old is gold”.

Contributed by HERALD VAN DER LINDE, Head of Asia Equity Strategy, HSBC Global Research