Sam Cheong, managing director and head of UOB’s foreign direct investment advisory unit, said that the bank had co-hosted an investment forum for 20 Chinese delegates who are looking to invest in the EEC.

The bank worked with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) to jointly present the forum.

“Some of them have already invested in Thailand and are looking for businesses expansion,” said Cheng Qingtao, vice president of the Chinese Chamber of International Commerce, who was among the leaders of the trade delegates.

Chinese investors are interested in many industries, including communications and pharmaceutical industries, he said.

“The advantage for investment in Thailand is a linkage between the EEC and the Belt and Road Initiative, for which both countries’ leaders have promised a close cooperation,” said Chen, referring to the Chinese government’s vision for improved infrastructure and trade linkages across Asia.

Chinese investors are especially interested in investment in the Rayong Industrial Park in the EEC, he added. Cheong said that, while US President Donald Trump has recently announced the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, prompting concerns over a trade war, China and Asean could strengthen trade and investment via a free-trade agreement. At the end of 2017, China was Thailand’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade volume |reaching nearly US$ 7 billion, he said.

Among the 10-member Asean bloc, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are attractive investment destinations. He said UOB has an extensive network in Asean, with many branches in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. It also has received a banking licence from the Myanmar government.

The bank has, since 2012, a operated foreign direct investment |advisory, which ha provided support to more than 1,600 firms, including over 500 from China, he said.

Asked about obstacles for |investment in Thailand, Cheng |said that Thailand is not competitive in labour-intensive industries, and Vietnam fares better in this area.

In other positive developments for the EEC, Jack P. Williams, senior vice president of ExxonMobil Corp, wants to invest in petrochemicals production in the EEC, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak quoted him as saying yesterday.

Williams met Somkid and discussed investment opportunities in the Eastern egion. Somkid said after the meeting that ExxonMobil wants the government to provide it a plot of 600-800 rai for its planned site for the plant. If the company could not find a plot suitable for its proposed Bt200 billion petrochemicals investment, the company would look for investment opportunties in other Asean countries, like Singapore, Somkid said at Government House.

It was their first conversation since Trump last week imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, raising trade tensions.

Trudeau “emphasized that preserving (the two nations’) mutually beneficial supply chains is critical to jobs and businesses on both sides of the border,” according to a summary.

The prime minister was touring an aluminum smelter in Alma, Quebec. He was to also visit three Canadian steel cities this week to reassure workers.

His Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, will be in Washington on Tuesday and Thursday to “advance Canada’s efforts to keep trade open, fair and barrier-free, to benefit people on both sides of the border,” her ministry said in a statement.

She is to meet US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Congressional leaders and others.

Canada, the top supplier of steel and aluminum to the US market, has been temporarily exempted from the tariffs, along with Mexico.

When Trump announced the 10 percent tariffs on aluminum and 25 percent on steel, he said Canada and Mexico could be exempted permanently if the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is successful.

In the call with Trudeau, Trump “emphasized the importance of quickly concluding the ongoing NAFTA negotiations,” the White House said.

But both Mexico and Canada have rejected Trump’s linkage of the levies to the ongoing NAFTA talks.

“We will continue working toward securing a definite and permanent exemption from those tariffs,” Trudeau said earlier.

He said he and Trump also “welcomed and encouraged the progress being made on negotiation of the renewed North American Free Trade Agreement” and discussed an opioid crisis affecting both nations.

Pongthiti Pongsilamanee, president of the listed state agency’s workers’ union, filed the suit, demanding that the ministry and the Cabinet rescind an order for the establishment of two private entities: National Broadband Network Company Limited and Neutral Gateway and Data Centre Company Limited.

The lawsuit also seeks to block the transfer of TOT’s assets to the two companies.

The Cabinet resolved in June last year to set up the two businesses to take over and manage the telecom networks of TOT and CAT Telecom.

In the lawsuit, the union states that it would be unlawful to hand over the state assets of TOT to the private firms.

The ministry has instructed the transfer of assets to be completed within this month.

Pongthiti said that TOT’s offices, property, telecom networks and the rights over land for telecom use were all national assets that could not be transferred to private entities.

The government has not yet issued any decree to downgrade the status of the national assets to normal assets, hence they cannot be transferred to private companies, the union chief added.

IMF officials had met Somid to discuss the economic situation.

Somkid said the IMF suggestion was prompted by Thailand’s large accumulated foreign exchange reserves of US$215 billion. The sovereign fund should invest the reserves to generate more revenue for the country like many other countries do, the IMF officials suggested.

Somkid explained that making use of international reserves is a sensitive issue in Thai society. He said the government previously had asked the central bank to study the creation of a sovereign wealth fund in order to ease pressure on the baht, which in recent years has risen against the US dollar.

In a ruling dated Dec. 6, 2017, the Tenggarong District Court in East Kalimantan found PT Indominco Mandiri — a subsidiary of coal producer Indo Tambangraya Megah (ITM) that is controlled by Banpu Group Thailand — guilty of illegally dumping two types of waste, fly ash and bottom ash, which were produced at the firm’s coal power plant.

Fly ash is a powdery material made by burning ground coal, while bottom ash is formed at the bottom of a coal furnace.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry has categorized fly ash and bottom ash as hazardous toxic waste. If not managed, the two can pollute waterways, ground water, drinking water and the air.

Indominco had a temporary waste disposal site for fly ash and bottom ash produced by its power plant in Santan subdistrict, Kutai Kartanegara regency, according to the ruling. But due to overcapacity, the company dumped the waste at an illegal open dump inside the firm’s power plant area, the court found.

Indominco did not increase the capacity of the temporary waste disposal site and the amount of machines to produce paving blocks, which use coal waste as a material, even though the amount of waste generated from its mining activity and power plant had increased, the court found.

In a statement released on Thursday, NGO Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) criticized the ruling for not sentencing the directors of Indominco to jail.

Articles 60, 104 and 116 of the 2009 Environment Protection and Management Law state that a person who illegally dumps waste faces two years in jail and a maximum fine of Rp 3 billion.

Jatam national coordinator Merah Johansyah said the court should have revoked Indominco’s mining business permit.

The open dump had caused several environmental problems in the surrounding area, according to locals quoted in Jatam’s statement. “We’ve had of enough of pollution in the Santan River. Please don’t add to our problems by polluting the air and the ground water as well,” said Romiansyah, a Santan resident.

The Bank of Thailand announced on Thursday that, in accordance with permission granted by the palace, it would release banknotes bearing an image of King Rama X that day in the denominations of Bt20, Bt50 and Bt100.

Bt500 and Bt1,000 notes with his portrait will enter circulation on July 28, His Majesty’s birthday.

Older banknotes will remain legal tender.

The private sector will invest on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis and can operate the project for 30 years. The investment cost is Bt15.4 billion.

The project is part of the draft master plan for the development of the transportation hub in Phaholyothin area, which will turn it into a centre of transport and business district.

Thailand ranks 19th out of 24 leading IT economies, compared to its ranking of 21st in 2016, indicating that the legal and regulatory environment for cloud computing in Thailand is improving, although significant gaps remain.

The 2018 BSA Global Cloud Computing Scorecard is the newest version of the only report to rank countries’ preparedness for the adoption and growth of cloud computing services. It is said to feature an updated methodology that better reflects the policies that have helped cloud computing’s exponential growth over the past five years, putting additional emphasis on countries’ privacy and cybersecurity laws and broadband infrastructure.

In 2018, most countries continue to make improvements, but some markets are falling further behind, the report said.

Germany scored the highest on the scorecard – due to its national cybersecuritypolicies and promotion of free trade – followed closely by Japan and the United States. Bringing up the rear are a small group of nations that have failed to embrace the international approach: Russia, China, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“The scorecard is a tool that can help countries constructively self-evaluate their policies and determine next steps to increase adoption of cloud computing,” said Victoria Espinel, president and chied executive officer of BSA.

“Cloud computing allows anyone to access technology previously available only to large organisations, paving the way for increased connectivity and innovation.

“Countries that embrace the free flow of data, implement cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions, protect intellectual property, and establish IT infrastructure will continue to reap the benefits of cloud computing for businesses and citizens alike.”

US President Donald Trump’s ranking on the list fell to 766th place from 544th in the last edition, his wealth now being estimated at $3.1 billion, $400 million less than a year ago.

Thanks to a 59-percent rise in Amazon shares over the past 12 months, Bezos’ fortune shot up to $120 billion, way ahead of the $90 billion Forbes listed for Gates.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett held on to his number three ranking, followed by French industrialist Bernard Arnault, who jumped to fourth-richest person from his previous number 11 spot, mostly thanks to euro strength against the dollar, the magazine said.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was fifth on the list.

Two Chinese billionaires rose to be among the 20 richest people in the world: Ma Huateng, CEO of Chinese internet giant Tencent who is the richest person in Asia and number 17 in the world, and Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

There are now a record 2,208 billionaires in the world, Forbes counted, and their combined worth is $9.1 trillion, up 18 percent from last year.

The US has the most billionaires (585), followed by mainland China (373).

Forbes’ list contains 259 newcomers, including the first-ever cryptocurrency billionaires.

Falling fortunes or political headwinds, meanwhile, pushed 121 people out of the illustrious list, including all 10 Saudi Arabians, the magazine said.

The agreement — rebranded as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) — has been championed as an antidote to growing US protectionism under President Donald Trump.

“We are not going to be derailed by Trump’s decision” to withdraw the US, said Felipe Lopeandia, Chile’s top trade negotiator, ahead of the ratification ceremony in Santiago.

After years of negotiations, the original deal — the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP — was signed in February 2016 by 12 countries that border the Pacific Ocean.

But it fell victim to Trump’s “America First” policy, when he removed the pact’s major linchpin before the deal could get under way.

The CPTPP aims to slash tariffs between the 11 members and foster trade to boost growth.

It will “send a political signal to the world and to the United States itself, that this is a global agreement,” said Lopeandia.

Blow against protectionism

Coming in the same week that Trump risked a trade war over his decision to introduce tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, the deal is seen by some members as striking a blow against protectionism.

Washington’s exit meant a drastic downsizing of the original agreement — which with US involvement represented 40 percent of the global economy.

But the pact — though a diminished one involving 13.5 percent of global GDP — remains hugely significant, according to Ignacio Bartesaghi of the Catholic University of Uruguay’s business school.

“There is no trade agreement involving that number of countries, and one that has 30 chapters which deal with all the most modern topics of international trade,” Bartesaghi told AFP.

Last month, Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos that the US might return if it got a better deal.

“Little by little, his advisors have managed to make Trump realize the role that the United States plays in Asia Pacific and the role played by the TPP in that region, not only in economic and trade terms, but in geopolitical terms,” said Bartesaghi.

But Japan, a key driver behind the revised pact, is skeptical.

“If the United States returns to a more positive attitude toward the TPP, it is something we will welcome (but) it would not be so easy” to change the agreement again, said Tokyo’s chief negotiator Kazuyoshi Umemoto.

More balanced

More than 20 provisions were suspended or changed in the new agreement, mostly rules over intellectual property originally inserted at the demand of US negotiators.

Analysts noted these provisions were not canceled, however, with some suggesting the door is being left ajar for the US.

Chilean authorities say the new chapter on intellectual property protection is now “more balanced.”

“The CPTPP will establish a new standard for other regional economic integration agreements, and even for future negotiations in the WTO (World Trade Organization) and in APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation),” said Chile’s foreign ministry, which is hosting Thursday’s landmark signing.

Chile said membership of the new pact will improve access to markets currently responsible for 17 percent of its total exports.

The other two Latin American countries, Mexico and Peru, will also improve their access to countries on the other side of the Pacific, such as Vietnam and Malaysia.

“It means an increase in our potential market and the possibility that our people can access more products,” said Mario Mongilardi, head of Lima’s chamber of commerce.

The 11 states represent a market of 500 million people, greater than that of the European Union’s single market.

The pact will come into force 60 days after it is fully ratified by six of the 11 members.

The 11 TPP countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.