The notice follows the Cabinet’s agreement in principle to regulate trades in cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and other activities related to digital assets.

The Cabinet yesterday approved in principle a draft emergency decree relating to businesses involved in trading digital assets and drafted an amendment to the Revenue Code for the collection of taxes on investments in the emerging sector.

Nattaporn Jatusripitak, an adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office, said the emergency decree was aimed at exerting control over those people who specifically invested in digital currencies as a means of closing loopholes for money laundering and fraud, not to ban all digital-currency investments.

The draft amendment of the Revenue Code aims to have tax collection from income or dividends from digital-currency investment ensure fairness in the tax system, he said. Currently, the Revenue Code has not yet determined the definition of digital assets and other taxation details related to them.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam oversaw the legal drafts.

A source at the Ministry of Finance said that digital assets, under the draft emergency decree, would be classified into three types: cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, and other electronics-data assets.

A cryptocurrency is deemed to be a digital asset that may have a price or a value used, under agreement or acceptance among people, as a medium of exchange for products, services or other rights through an electronics process, regardless of reference to any currency, any foreign currency or any commodity.

“After this, the related agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Anti-Money Laundering Office, will rush to discuss matters with the Council of the State as the Cabinet assigned it to accelerate the legal details and complete the task within one week,” the source said.

In regard to the direction for tax collection on profit and dividends from digital-currency investments, the Revenue Department has proposed the legal amendment of the Revenue Code for clearer taxation.

Usually, income from a digital-currency investment can be collected in the same way as other income, which is taxed with a ceiling rate of a 15 per cent withholding tax rate, the source said. The tax collection on digital-currency investments will be considered by the Council of the State.

Details of both legal drafts will be clearer next week, Nattaporn said. The draft emergency decree is now being considered in detail by the Council of the State and the organic laws associated with it would later be launched.

“The government is drafting the emergency decree for businesses involving digital assets and, now, it is under the consideration of the Council of the State,” Nattaporn said. “The aim is to protect people as, previously, there has not been a specific law (to govern digital currencies). Once we have the law, we have to talk about tax collection on how to tax income from digital-currency trade. Next week will see a clearer picture.”

Operators engaged in businesses affected by the draft emergency decree are required to be registered with the supervisory agency. These business operators include intermediaries, brokerages, providers of platforms, traders and dealers.

Tax collection on investment in digital currencies, in principle, will be subject to the assets involved. Profit from investment will be taxed. If some assets are similar to shares and are subject to dividend payment, tax will be levied on the dividends.

Thuntee Sukchotrat, chief executive officer of the JIBEX Co, said the company will launch a market platform for investors in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, and ripple. He said the firm would comply by the rules issued by the government.

The Revenue Department’s plan to collect a 15 per cent tax on capital gain or dividend generated from digital assets could have some impact on the company, but it is an investment of high risk and high returns, he said.

“More and more people are talking about investment opportunities in digital currencies and the potential high growth of the market”, said Thuntee who is a specialist in big data and information technology.

Currently there are two exchanges offering trading to investors in Thailand, namely BX and TDAX, with an estimated daily trading volume of Bt 90 million and 10 million respectively, he said

Market value of cryptocurrencies is estimated at around Bt4 to Bt5 billion while the global market is worth Bt12 trillion.

New investors should wait for the announcement of the digital asset rule from the government before jumping into the market, said Thuntee.

The company targets revenue of Bt 170 million in the first year of operations.

It’s revenue would be fee-based, or 0.25 per cent on top of each transaction. It is the market price, he said, in referring to fee charged on investors.

The company will offer cryptocurrency wallet to investors who register for trading on the exchange. The JIBEX wallet, incorporating a security system known as know-your-customer (KYC), will be on par with banking standard . The KYC will end regulator’s concerns on cryptocurrency fraud or money laundering activities. “We are ready to comply with the rules enforced by regulators,” said Thuntee. Blockchain technology will also track the trail of digital transactions to reduce the risk of fraud or illegal activities, he assured.

In the first phase of operation , trading will cover five digital currencies namely bitcoin, ehterreum, bitcoin cash, ripple and litecoin. The second phase will allow investors to trade baht and cryptocurrencies . The third phase will offer investors investment tools such as robot trade and will incorporate e-commerce feature in order to allow investors using digital currencies in exchange for goods and services.

The final phase will launch wealth management service for investors, according to Thuntee.

He claims that the company is in partnerships with IT security firms, brokerage firms and commercial banks , necessary for operating the exchange which will also be connected to foreign exchanges trading digital currencies, he said.

The company has a registered capital of Bt5 million. 51 per cent of company shares is held by Somyot Chaowalit, managing director of J I B Computer Group (JIB), a major computer vendors; 29 per cent by Thuntee with the rest held by its IT partners.

“The company will increase capital if required by the regulator,” added Thuntee.

The move will help GPO to expand its production capacity to cope with the requirements of the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standard.

Nattaporn Jatusripitak, an adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that the second phase of the plant would be financed over four years from 2018, from GPO’s income of Bt2.243 billion and local borrowings of Bt3.364 billion.

Of the total budget for the second phase, some Bt3.626 billion will be for the building and manufacturing facilities, Bt1.917 billion for machinery and equipment, and Bt63 million for project management and construction control.

The GPO has two pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities: a plant on Rama VI and the first phase of the Rangsit plant.

At a seminar on “Thailand’s Path to Sustainable Fisheries” at the Seafood Expo North America 2018 event from March 11-13 in Boston, Thailand’s Department of Fisheries, the Royal Thai Police, the Thai Frozen Foods Association and Stella Maris updated the importers on the country’s progress in tackling the IUU problems.

Importers, particularly the world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart Store Inc, welcomed Thailand’s clear solution to the IUU and labour problems, Virachai said.

“Wal-Mart wants to cooperate more with us to import fishery products and wants Thailand to cooperate to see and convince its neighbouring countries to tackle the problems, particularly labour problems, like Thailand has done. This time, Thailand’s role has been clearly accepted,” he said.

The move is aimed at regulating investment in digital currency and preventing money laundering from such investment.

The draft emergency decree is now subject to vetting by the Council of State.

The proposed changes create new bureaus, do away with others, and shift around responsibilities.

At the top of the list is the government’s proposed change combining the insurance and banking regulators into one agency, according to the proposal introduced at the annual session of the rubber-stamp parliament.

The new regulator will be capable of “holding the bottom line to prevent systematic financial risk”, the parliament document says.

The responsibilities of the two separate regulators currently overlap in some areas, leaving regulatory roles unclear, the document says.

The two regulators will hand off duties such as proposing laws to the People’s Bank of China in a sign that the central bank is beefing up its regulatory role.

China is in the midst of a battle against financial risk, as credit in the world’s second largest economy has exploded since the financial crisis a decade ago.

Financial regulators have cracked down on major companies — even taking over Anbang Insurance this year — to get a handle on building risk and unwieldy debt that some analysts worry pose a serious threat to China’s financial stability.

Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic advisor, is overseeing that battle on financial risk and praised the reforms as “revolutionary” in an editorial published in the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Tuesday.

“We should understand the necessity of promoting this deep transformation,” Liu wrote.

The latest cabinet shuffle shows the government’s battle continues.

China is also establishing a national market supervisory management bureau to ensure a “fair competition market environment”.

The new bureau will bring together a number of separate departments under one roof, regulating everything from businesses to quality supervision to food and drug safety, according to the document.

The proposed changes put forth in the document are expected to be approved by the National People’s Congress legislature, which ends its session next Tuesday.

The draft also includes a new immigration bureau and changes to the tax system.

In total, China will have 26 ministries and commissions when the changes are formally approved.

The company said it used its own funds to reimburse about 46.6 billion yen ($440 million) to all 260,000 customers who lost their holdings of NEM, a leading cryptocurrency.

“Procedures have been completed with the accounts of all 260,000 customers,” company spokesman Yosuke Imai told AFP.

Thieves syphoned away 523 million units of the cryptocurrency from Coincheck — then valued at $547 million — during the January 26 hack, which exceeded the $480 million in bitcoin stolen in 2014 from another Japanese exchange, MtGox.

The 2014 hack prompted Japan to issue new regulations, requiring exchanges to obtain a government licence, but Coincheck was allowed to continue operating while the Financial Services Agency was reviewing its application.

Authorities raided Coincheck’s office last month and have slapped the company with sanctions.

Coincheck chief operating officer Yusuke Otsuka said last week that the company’s system was breached after several staff members opened emails containing malware.

The firm had failed to upgrade its systems to keep up with the rapid expansion of the cryptocurrency market, he said.

In February, seven plaintiffs — two companies and five individuals — filed a lawsuit against Coincheck seeking the reimbursement of 19.53 million yen in lost virtual currency and further compensation for interest lost due to the hack.

As many as 10,000 businesses in Japan are thought to accept bitcoin, and bitFlyer — the country’s main bitcoin exchange — saw its user base grow beyond one million in November.

MAY I HAVE YOUR POINT OF VIEW ON THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY OF TODAY AND HOW CREATIVITY IS SIGNIFICANT FOR ALL BUSINESSES? WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS VALUE CAN BE BUILT WITH THE USE OF CREATIVITY? PLEASE GIVE SOME EXAMPLES.

Now, more than ever, creativity is crucial for any business to stand out in order to succeed. Gone are the days that businesses talk to consumers. It is an age where businesses have to listen to consumers. The game has changed and it is the consumers calling the shots. They have the power to choose who they want to listen to, where and when they do so, and what they will choose to consume.

These challenges also create great opportunities and are a necessity for creativity. Businesses need to stand out, be different, find new ways to break through the messages bombarding consumers. This creates opportunities for creativity in content, entertainment, and relevance.

Despite popular belief, consumers do not mind advertising. They mind formatted advertising and messages. They want entertainment. If content comes with entertainment, they will seek it. Rises in popularity of pages like Tue Sanit Praew are testament that entertaining content, which will be consumed.

Business values also play a significantly larger role in consumers’ affinity for a brand. A business’ values and practices in its commitment to social responsibility are more relevant to today’s consumers. Creativity helps businesses explore new solutions to old problems. Creativity drives innovation and pushes boundaries. Unusual Football Field is a great example of how creativity took an existing problem, created a tangible solution relatable to the brand and added significant impact for the business.

WHAT ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES FACED BY THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY TODAY? AND HOW ARE THE PLAYERS ADJUSTING THEIR STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME SUCH CHALLENGES?

The key challenges for any industry, not specific to the creative industry, is the fragmentation of media, consumers, and markets. There is more specialisation and sub-cultures that make it impossible for a ‘one size fits all’ strategy. Consumers are no longer broken down by demographics, but by behaviour. It is the understanding of behaviour that determines how to target consumers.

Rather than starting with a media plan, strategies must start with the end in mind and work their way back. Start with the behaviour and preferences of the consumers you want to reach, then figure out how to get their attention.

HOW ARE EMERGING OF DIGITAL |TECHNOLOGIES AND SOCIAL NETWORKS AFFECTING THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY? HOW DOES THE CREATIVE LANDSCAPE CHANGE? WHY DO CREATIVE PLAYERS NEED TO TRANSFORM THEMSELVES TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THE NEW DISRUPTION AND HOW SHOULD THEY DO SO?

While digital technology and social media open endless doors for the creative industry, it should be mindful that they are merely tools that help spread an idea.

Despite the changes in tools and platforms, creatives should always remind themselves to always start with the idea in mind.

Technology should enhance the idea, not cover up for it. The rise of digital technology and social networks also gives rise to influencers, bloggers, vloggers, and such, who also become a new form of media. Creatives can utilise the use of these players, but should be mindful of how such personalities fit with the brand.

The speed of change of the digital landscape forces brands to be more spontaneous and reactive, but the core value of the business should never be compromised.

HOW DO YOU SEE THE TREND FOR THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

There will likely be even less advertising in the classical sense, but more social solutions by brand. As consumers look for relevance and connection, brands will need to find more creative solutions to reach consumers.

The creative industry will take on more a creative solution and consultancy role for businesses. Creatives have to identify the problems that create opportunities for creative solution that are meaningful and tangible for consumers.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUGGEST AS GOVERNMENT MEASURES AND INITIATIVES THAT SHOULD BE LAUNCHED TO PROMOTE THE LOCAL CREATIVE INDUSTRY AND ITS FUTURE EXPANSION?

More investment in research and development (R&D). For a creative environment to prosper, one of the areas of creativity is innovation. R&D is a key element necessary for future innovations that can potentially create solutions to help society and its people.

Touchable Ink, for example, was an initiative by an agency for a corporation that makes Braille accessible to almost anyone.

There is no shortage of creative ideas, but most often a shortage of funds.

AdFest 2018 will be held from March 21-24 at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya.