“Gems and jewellery trading could face difficulties in many markets, as consumers are saving money to spend on other needs,” Vibul Hongsrichinda, president of the Thai Silver Exporters Association, said yesterday.

“However, sales of non-luxury items such as gemstones and fashion ornaments have continued to rise,” he said.

Trading of gems and jewellery, excluding gold, would be sluggish this year, but the sales outlook for next year would be brighter, he added.

With the boom in tourism, gems and jewellery sales in the domestic market are also increasing, he said.

The International Trade Promotion Department, however, expects gems and jewellery shipments to grow 10 per cent to US$7.89 billion (Bt278 billion) this year, emerging as one of the top five export champions of the country.

Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the department, said sales of jewellery and ornaments to many overseas markets this year should grow strongly, as Thai gems are highly regarded for their quality and good designs.

Last year, exports of jewellery and ornaments reached $7.18 billion. In the first half of this year, exports of gems and jewellery excluding gold fell 1.3 per cent to $3.61 billion.

As part of the government’s policy to promote the gems and jewellery industry, the department will work to make the 58th Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair one of the world’s top three major trade exhibitions that international dealers should not miss. The event, from September 7-11 at Impact Muang Thong Thani, is expected to draw 30,000 visitors from around the world and generate Bt15 billion in immediate sales.

Hiroki Mitsumata said yesterday that Japan had entered a new era of investment that would focus more on service business as well as high-technology and creative industries.

Japan’s investors now are more interested in services such as hospitality, medical, retail, digital content, and high tech.

He said the government’s “Thailand 4.0” policy, which will focus on high-technology industry and innovation, was the right way to go. However, Thailand should prioritise its plans and set clear-cut policies on which industries will be promoted in the short, medium and long terms, so that foreign interests, including Japanese, could know which industries to invest in first.

Also, the government should amend its laws and regulations to facilitate investment in targeted industries, particularly the Foreign Business Act, which restricts many service businesses to Thai majority ownership, the Jetro Bangkok president said.

Mitsumata said the protection of some service businesses could be relaxed, such as retail and other sectors that Thailand needs to develop.

Moreover, with seamless global trade, Asean countries including Thailand are becoming centres for Japanese investment instead of China. By 2012, Japanese investment in Asean nations was double that in China, he said.

Mitsumata said Thailand could continue to be a centre of Japan investment for the long term, depen-ding on the government’s policy to promote and facilitate investment.

He remarked that as Thais had approved the draft constitution in a referendum, Japanese investors expected the military-led government to follow its road map for setting up a national election and restore democracy next year. Stable politics and the government’s economic stimulus plans are two major factors encouraging Japanese investment and business expansion in Thailand.

Investment privileges and tax exemptions authorised by the Board of Investment are also favoured by Japanese investors.

Mitsumata added that some Japanese investors, such as in the electronics and electrical-appliance industries, might opt to invest in Vietnam instead of Thailand as that country will enjoy privileges under the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Thailand has not yet decided to join.

According to the Japanese Finance Ministry, as of the end of 2015, Thailand was Japan’s second-largest investment destination in Asean after Singapore. Combined initial investment capital from Japan to Thailand was worth US$55 billion (Bt1.9 trillion).

The BOI has reported that Japan is Thailand’s leading foreign direct investor, accounting for 39 per cent of total FDI, followed by Singapore at 12 per cent, mainland China at 7 per cent, Hong Kong 6 per cent, Taiwan 5 per cent, and others 36 per cent.

Meanwhile, Japan has also encouraged more Thais to invest in Japan. The Jetro Bangkok president said industries that Thais could invest in included medical services, hospitality such as hotel management, and spa operations.

As of the end 2015, combined investment from Thailand to Japan was worth $1.4 billion.

Thailand is the second-largest Asean investor in that country after Singapore.

He said renewable energy had not yet been dependable enough to meet electricity demands around the clock and thus conventional power plants still needed to be built to operate in parallel, which meant a duplication in investment.

Higher costs of renewable power have added 20 satang per kilowatt-hour to the national electricity tariff. He said that if the country got too carried away with renewable power, it would result in a cost burden for the people and industries.

“Renewable developers have said they can compete with conventional energy, so let them bid,” he said.

Nevertheless, Anantaporn said the government’s target to increase the share of renewable energy to 30 per cent of total electricity consumption in 20 years was still a reasonable goal.

Twarath Sutabutr, director-general of the Energy Policy and Planning Office, said eligible bidders for the new Small Power Producer (SPP) programme would have to commit to producing a certain amount of electricity or sign up to firm supply contracts.

Current renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) are on a “non-firm” supply basis, which has caused power utilities to establish standby reserves from fossil-fuelled power plants.

She said Sepo was trying to propose suitable models for TOT and CAT to survive by merging their core businesses into three consolidated companies.

However, yesterday the State Enterprise Workers’ Relations Confederation (SERC), representing employees of 56 state enterprises, held a press conference at CAT headquarters in Chaeng Wattana Road to oppose the government’s consolidation plan for TOT and CAT. About 1,000 employees of the two telecommunications agencies joined the event.

Private control feared

The SERC said the merger plan would allow private companies to take control of core telecom networks in the near future. It argued that such networks should be controlled by the state by national-security reasons.

On July 11, the State Enterprise Policy Commission instructed TOT and CAT to hire consultants separately for the merger plan within three months, set up the consolidated companies within six months and transfer all assets to them within a year.

The commission, also known as the “superboard”, ordered them to merge their transmission |and fibre-optics network as |the National Broadband Network Co (NBN) with asset valuation |of Bt15 billion, their Internet gateway and submarine-cable networks as the Neutral Gateway Network Co (NGN) with asset valuation of Bt5 billion, and their Internet data centres as IDC Co.

Pansak Siriratchatapong, vice minister of information and communications technology, said at the event that the consolidation process was part of the government’s effort to help the two telecom agencies be stronger in the future. However, both were free to propose better business plans to the ICT Ministry.

Sangvorn Phumtien, president of CAT’s labour union, said CAT believed there were other ways to survive than merging operations with TOT.

Pongtiti Silamanee, president of TOT’s union, said it needed time to seek better solutions to propose to the ICT and hoped that the government would change its policy on the consolidation plan.

The Cabinet yesterday gave the nod to a framework of cooperation between the Thai and Chinese governments to develop high-speed railways from Map Ta Phut to Nong Khai and Bangkok to Kaeng Khoi.

“The latest conclusion we came up with is that the county will invest in all of the project’s construction,” Kobsak Phutrakul, a vice minister at the PM’s Office, said.

The Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima route would be developed in the first phase and its extension across Isaan done later.

Thailand to retain ownership

The railway project will feature dual 1.435-metre gauge tracks and span 837 kilometres in total.

Bangkok and Beijing had set a timeframe to sign the agreement of cooperation on development of the project by yesterday or today.

The Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima route will run about 250km and require about Bt170 billion-Bt190 billion of investment.

Under the deal, Thailand will retain ownership rights for the entire project.

This would help accelerate the commencement of construction by the end of this year.

The Chinese side would be responsible for surveying the project’s proprietarysuitability and design.

The Thai side would be responsible for conducting environmental impact assessments, expropriating land and executing contracts.

The contracts will be divided into two parts.

One will cover civil engineering work and procurement and the other the electric system, rolling stock and track installation, which both sides would join in.

The capital for the project would come from the government’s expense budget and domestic loans plus other sources such as China’s Import-Export Bank.

Other areas of cooperation are human resource development, technology transfer and training.

The prime minister also instructed authorities to expedite the project so that construction would start this year, as this would be the first high-speed railway in Thailand connecting the capital with other cities, he said.

Monrudee Gettuphan, general manager of the airport, said Airports of Thailand had previously planned to open the new terminal in May last year, but it had faced construction delays.

However, when the terminal is opened, it should increase the airport’s capacity from the current 6.5 million passengers per year to 12.5 million. Of that number, 5 million will be international passengers and 6.5 million domestic. Right now, capacity is full because of a surge in tourist arrivals.

“The company [AOT] aims to push Phuket International Airport as the new gateway into southern Thailand, particularly the Andaman Coast, covering five provinces – Phuket, Krabi, Ranong, Phang Nga and Trang,” she said.

AOT has invested more than Bt2 billion in the new terminal.

Monrudee said one of the highlights at the airport was a new in-line baggage-skinning machine that would help shorten check-in times.

The new machine is similar to the system at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

She said 39 airlines were operating scheduled flights in and out of Phuket, plus nine charter flights. They add up to a total of 250 flights per day, carrying about 40,000 passengers per day. During peak season, the number of flights increases to 300 a day.

“Starting from September 15, Thai VietJet will commence a Chiang Rai-Phuket route with two daily flights. The same airline is planning to operate Phuket-Ho Chi Minh City in the near future.”