A fine sheet of pure carbon, graphene is as thin as an atom, making it the skinniest material known.

At the same time though, it is 100 times stronger than steel, hugely pliable and can conduct electricity and heat better than anything else.

“There are other materials which do have one of those properties each,” physicist Kostya Novoselov — who first isolated graphene in 2004 — said at the Mobile World Congress, the sector’s biggest trade fair, in Barcelona.

“What is amazing here is that all those qualities are combined in one simple crystal.

“Of course that immediately leaves us with a number of possible applications.”

Graphene patents soar

Novoselov, a Russian-born British citizen, and his colleague at Manchester University Andre Geim won the Nobel Prize for their work with graphene, sparking a flurry of interest in the new material.

The number of patents involving graphene soared from under 50 in 2004 to around 9,000 in 2014, according to Andrew Garland of research firm Future Markets, who puts out a twice-yearly report on the material.

“Most are in electronics,” he said.

Samsung, the world’s number one smartphone maker, has taken out the most graphene patents — over 490 — followed by China’s Ocean’s King Lighting and IBM.

While its real-world uses so far remain modest, research into possible applications for the material picked up steam in Europe after the European Union set aside one billion euros ($1.1 billion) in 2013 to be spent over ten years to investigate.

“We believe we require another ten years to get to the point where a lot of devices will start being on the market,” said Andrea Ferrari, director of the Cambridge Graphene Centre at the University of Cambridge.

The trade fair in Barcelona for the first time had a pavilion dedicated to graphene research centres and start-ups, a sign of the growing importance of the material to the mobile industry.

’Can support an elephant’

Graphene is so pliable scientists predict it will one day make flexible phones possible.

British firm FlexEnable showcased a smartwatch prototype made using graphene that wraps around a user’s wrist and features a full colour LCD display that is capable of running video content.

“This sort of display technology is basically ushering in a completely new generation of mobile devices because we can start folding electronics,” said the company’s technical director, Mike Banach.

British tech firm Zap&Go, meanwhile, displayed a graphene charger for mobile phones and tablets that takes just five minutes to fully load with power.

The company is making 2,000 versions to give to journalists and to people who pre-order them, said the company’s marketing director, Simon Harris.

“What we have here ultimately could replace the lithium-ion battery in billions of devices. It needs to come down in size and up in power,” he added.

Graphene is so strong and thin that researchers believe they will one day be able to use it to make unbreakable screens for mobile devices.

“With just a few kilos you can replace all the touchscreens in the word. With just a few layers on top of each other you can support an elephant,” said Vittorio Pellegrini, director of the Italian Institute of Technology’s Graphene Labs.

“Graphene is really a material that allows our imagination to fly. There is no limit to what you can do,” he added.

 

The decline was the 13th straight month and the worst since November 2011 when massive flooding caused factories and businesses across Thailand to suspend operations for more than a month.

Somkiat Triratpan, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, said yesterday that last month outbound shipments were still confronting pressure, particularly from low prices of crude oil prices and agricultural products.

Last year, exports faced a global economy that had not yet recovered, plunges in global oil prices, drops in oil exporters’ purchasing power, low prices of agricultural products and currency devaluations in several countries that prompted high currency volatility.

“It’s clear that the global economy is worse than expected and this will have an impact on Thailand’s economic recovery,” Reuters quoted Charnon Boonnuch, senior economist at Tisco Securities, as saying.

Exports may shrink for the fourth year running in 2016 and the Bank of Thailand will need to cut interest rates at its March 23 meeting, he told the news agency. However, according to Reuters, Tim Leelahaphan, an economist at Maybank Kim Eng, said domestic demand was improving, so Thailand had no need to rush to act.

The central bank has left the policy interest rate unchanged at 1.50 per cent since April 2014.

The value of exports of agricultural products slipped 4.1 per cent year on year after global price drops, led by plunges of 25.7 per cent in rubber, 19.6 per cent in tapioca products and 19.2 per cent in frozen and processed shrimp.

Exports of canned tuna tumbled 15.1 per cent in value, while frozen and processed chicken sagged 2.3 per cent. However, their export volumes saw only slight drops.

Exports of rice and sugar jumped 30.0 per cent and 25.8 per cent by value and 68.5 per cent and 43.8 per cent by volume.

With global crude hitting an 11-year low of $27.30 per barrel, exports of industrial products contracted 8.5 per cent, led by a 25.2-per-cent fall in refined oil, chemical products and plastic pellets.

Gold exports dived 51.2 per cent, following falls in global gold prices.

However, exports of automobiles and parts turned to expansion at 4.1 per cent on higher export growth of passenger cars to Australia, Asean and the Middle East.

“Thai exports continued their contraction. That’s because the world is like this. We are still sticking to our target of 5 per cent [export growth] this year,” Deputy Commerce Minister Suvit Maesincee told a briefing.

Thailand will emphasise maintaining market shares for exports on expectation of swinging export-growth figures into positive territory, he said.

Exports to Thailand’s largest markets were off by 8.5 per cent to the United States, 6.1 per cent to China, 2.4 per cent to Europe and 10.1 per cent to Japan. Import value declined by 12.4 per cent to $15.47 billion, giving Thailand its ninth straight monthly trade surplus, of $238 million.

But European cities dominated the top ten on Mercer’s 2016 quality of living ranking, despite the recent migrant crisis, terror threats, and concern about the region’s economic outlook.

Singapore beat other major cities in Asia including Tokyo and Hong Kong, at 26th place worldwide.

The Austrian city of Vienna took the top spot for the seventh consecutive year for providing the highest quality of life.

Other Western European cities that did well include Zurich, Switzerland, in second place and Munich, Germany, in fourth.

New Zealand’s Auckland cliched the third spot, making it the highest-ranking city in the Asia-Pacific region.

Canada’s Vancouver, at number five, was North America’s best city.

In sixth place was German city Dusseldorf, followed by Frankfurt in seventh, Geneva at eighth, Copenhagen in ninth and Sydney, Australia, making 10th.

The survey also identifies the personal safety ranking for the cities, based on internal stability, crime figures, performance of local law enforcement, and the home country’s relationship with other countries.

Luxembourg topped the personal safety list, jointly followed by Bern, Helsinki, and Zurich.

Singapore ranked highest for personal safety in Asia, clinching the 8th spot globally.

Dubai, at 75th, ranks the highest for quality of living across Africa and the Middle East.

The survey of more than 440 cities evaluated standards in ten broad categories including safety, health, schools, public services, recreation, consumer goods, housing and environment. Out of which, 230 cities are ranked.

Volatile regional geopolitics characterized by safety concerns, political turmoil, and an elevated risk of terrorism have sent many Middle Eastern and Africa cities to the bottom of the list.

Iraq’s Baghdad stands at 230, while Central African Republic’s Bangui is at 229, and Yemen’s Sana’a is at 228.

Baghdad and Damascus, the capital of Syria are the world’s least safe cities according to the ranking.

TPN targets issuing 3 million-5 million debit cards in the first year, and debit-card transactions climbing to 5 per cent of the total value of cash withdrawals from ATMs, against 2 per cent at present, TPN chairman Shoke Na Ranong said yesterday. Merchants in the Kingdom to date have been discouraged from accepting debit cards due to the high transaction fees, while cardholders are not confident about using them and have concerns about the security of the magnetic stripe, Shoke said.

However, these problems will be addressed with the launch of the TPN service, he said, adding that since the cost of making electronic payments would be lower, people would be able to use e-payments for very small purchases.

There will also be a high level of security through the use of a ‘chip and PIN’ system with a 6-digit PIN.

“Merchants and shopkeepers will have less risk as they will not need to handle so much cash, consumers will be able to make payments easily and conveniently, the government will save on administration costs, and financial service providers will be able to provide e-payments at lower fees,” he explained.

The fee for merchants accepting TPN debit cards is less than 1 per cent of the transaction value, against 1.5-1.8 per cent in general, and in the event of a cardholder using the card but the merchant does not supply the goods, they can receive their money back within 24 hours, he said.

TPN cardholders can spend as little as Bt20 on their cards. If they spend at least Bt150, the bank issuer will send them an SMS text, and if they spend over Bt300, they will get a sales slip as transaction evidence.

While around 95 per cent of debit-card usage is local, if a TNT debit cardholder wants to use the card overseas, they will be advised to use the TPN co-brand – UnionPay.

UnionPay International and Bangkok Bank are TPN’s initial shareholders, on a 50:50 basis, while Kasikornbank, Krungthai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding expressing interest in becoming shareholders.

 

Masahito Ambashi, an economist from the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia, said the negative effects of the TPP could be “very big”, since the Kingdom was already deeply integrated into the global economic network.

Speaking at the “TPP and the Creation of the New World Trading System” conference, held by the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) and other agencies yesterday, he said there could be a huge diversion of trade from Thailand – currently a centre for production networks in Asean – to Vietnam, a founding TPP member, which was already gaining global share in manufactured goods.

“In our simulation, we assume trade diversion can happen negatively for non-TPP members,” the economist added.

Twelve Pacific Rim countries, including the United States, Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia, signed the TPP agreement on February 6.

According to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), the trade pact promises to create a huge economic zone that accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product and 30 per cent of exports from Japan.

Daisuke Hiratsuka, president of Bangkok Research Center of the Institute of Developing Economies under Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), said Thailand was coming to the end of its labour supply-driven economic development, as its labour force would start to decrease from 2020.

In a limited labour-supply assumption, he said, academic studies had suggested that countries should aim to increase their number of exporters and firms investing in overseas markets, climbing up the “smile curve” in global value chains, and improving global amenities and creating innovation hubs.

Naoaki Kashiwabara, deputy director of METI’s Economic Partnership Division, told the conference that the TPP could be used as a tool to help boost the number of companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to expand their overseas footprints.

“Everyone has a chance to do business overseas, not only large corporations, not only manufacturers, but also service industries. Japanese hair salons or prep schools, for example, can expand to Asean,” he said.

Furthermore, Kashiwabara said, the TPP could also be used as a tool of economic growth, or to revitalise economies.

However, Kannikar Kijtiwatcha-kul, coordinator of FTA Watch, told the conference that the TPP would do more harm than good to Thailand as Supachai Panitchpakdi, the former director-general of the World Trade Organisation, had recently pointed out.

She described the country’s rush to join the pact as “racing to hell”.

Steven Wong Cheng Ming, deputy chief executive of Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said many non-governmental organisations were “single-issue focused”, while the institute – which conducted a TPP study for the Malaysian government taking into account all aspects from national security to social welfare and economic prosperity issues – had found Malaysia’s national interest to be in the balance.

“The big TPP pay-off in our view is the [expected] greater inflow of investment,” he added.

Krisda Piampongsant, adviser to the Thai Chamber of Commerce, told the conference that the TPP was a “must” for Thailand.

“If not [Thailand does not join], we will probably lose our shirt,” he said.

This will improve their opportunity to invest in new production plants in new export markets to boost income growth for the long term, BOI secretary-general Hirunya Suchinai said yesterday.

The BOI’s 14 existing branches overseas will also expand their traditional role of promoting foreign businesses to invest in Thailand, by studying ways for Thai corporates to invest abroad, she said.

The agency has a budget Bt30 million this year to support Thai companies wishing to take such a step, she said, adding that this is 50 per cent higher than last year’s promotional budget.

The first three groups of countries to be promoted for overseas investment are CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) plus Indonesia; other Asean countries, especially the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei; and “new” potential markets such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Uganda.

The industries seen as having the greatest potential for investing overseas include agro-industry, automobiles, garments, food processing, and construction materials.

“We are encouraging Thai industrial firms to invest abroad, as it is a challenge for them [especially SMEs] to expand into new markets,” Hirunya said.

According to a survey by the fDi Intelligence unit of The Financial Times Ltd, Thai companies from 2006 to 2015 invested in a total of 550 projects abroad with an investment value US$58.54 billion (about Bt2 trillion).

Thai investment in coal, oil and natural gas accounted for the highest proportion during the period, at $11.78 billion, followed by chemicals with an investment value of $10.15 billion, and real estate with $7.28 billion.

The survey found that the top five countries for Thai companies’ foreign investment during the period were Vietnam, with an investment value of $10.64 billion, China ($9.08 billion), Indonesia ($9.03 billion), Myanmar ($8.2 billion) and the Philippines ($3.9 billion).

Meanwhile, Thai investors ranked second among those applying for tax incentives from Myanmar’s Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, recording an investment value of $10.28 billion from 1988 through 2015.

In Vietnam, the Kingdom ranked 10th in terms of receiving incentives from the Planning and Investment Ministry, with an investment value of $6.8 billion from 1989 to July last year.

Thailand also ranked second in terms of the value of applications for incentives from Laos’ Planning and Investment Ministry, recording a total of $4.4 billion from 1989 until the end of 2014.

Hirunya said the BOI would support companies considering overseas investment via seminars and courses, and would also work with the investment authority in each market to make the application process as smooth as possible for them.

Of the 333 companies that have participated in the training courses to date, 30 have invested overseas. The agency’s target is for at least 10 of the new trainee firms this year to decide to invest abroad, and for least 10 companies that have joined its training programme to expand abroad annually, she said.

Meanwhile, the agency will hold its second “BOI Forum” in Bangkok in August to promote foreign investment by corporates in CLMV markets plus Indonesia, the secretary-general said.

Lersan Dulthamaphirom, president of Seiko Advance (Thailand), said: “I have the opportunity, thanks to the BOI, to expand my company’s investment in China and India. It is a challenge for SMEs to find new production bases and markets for sustainable growth when domestic demand is limited.”

The company participated in the BOI training, and is one of those that have already taken the step to expand via investment overseas.