Meanwhile, the number of|registered businesses (juristic persons) that filed for business terminations nationwide last month was 1,469, down by 4,336 or 75 per cent from December, but up by 89 entities, or 6 per cent, over January 2015. Most of the business-termination cases were in the heavily state-regulated lottery-distribution segment that did not operate the business as intended.

“The significant increase in applications for partnership business registrations in January reflects the improving state of the economy under the government’s economic stimulus measures, such as the Village Fund to strengthen the Thai economic fundamentals, and state investments in large infrastructure projects such as mass transit, which will gradually come on stream,” Rattana said.

“The economy is projected to grow by 3.7 per cent this year, or within the range of 3.2-4.2 per cent. The Business Development Department expects at least 60,000-65,000 applications for business registrations this year in line with the improving economy.”

The combined registered capital of new business registrations in January was Bt28.20 billion, down from Bt26.44 billion, or by 48 per cent, from December. This is because last month, one public company accounted for more than Bt15 billion in registered capital, an increase of Bt9.58 billion, or 51 per cent over January 2015, Rattana said.

The top five new business |registrations were related to |general construction, property development, management |consulting service, construction-material distribution and |machinery sales and distribution, she said.

On January 31, 2015, the total number of partnership business registrations was 1,301,770, with combined registered capital of Bt19.84 trillion. The total number of partnership businesses nationwide was 621,692, with combined registered capital of Bt15.50 trillion, consisting of 441,853 limited companies, 1,111 public listed firms and 178,728 registered ordinary partnership companies, Rattana said.

The only major challenge is global economic difficulty, especially in China, the world’s second-largest economy, which is grappling with the slowdown of its domestic economy and the measures set by Beijing to raise investors’ confidence in the management of its financial sector.

NESDB secretary-general Porame-tee Vimolsiri said the major encouraging factors for the Thai economy included the acceleration of government expenditures and investments, especially on infrastructure projects, which will affect the budget disbursements of all state enterprises.

Another plus is the government’s measures to stimulate the economy, while the depreciation of the baht will benefit the export sector and the income and liquidity of business. The decrease in the oil price, which is expected to be even lower than in 2015 on average, will increase the purchasing power of people and the business sector. The NESDB also anticipates that export value will rise by 1.2 per cent this year, while household consumption will increase by 2.7 per cent and overall investment by 4.9 per cent.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, year-on-year GDP growth was 2.8 per cent, compared with 2.9 per cent in the third quarter. On the production side, the non-agricultural sector expanded by 4.2 per cent last quarter, while the agricultural sector declined by 3.4 per cent as it was affected by the drought.

On the demand side, domestic demand increased at a faster pace in line with the 4.8-per-cent expansion of government consumption, compared with 2.5 per cent for private consumption, in the fourth quarter of last year. Those figures were higher than the 2.3-per-cent and 1.8-per-cent expansions in the previous quarter.

Gross fixed capital formation also expanded by 9.4 per cent in the final quarter of last year, with a 1.9-per-cent increase in private investment after a contraction of 10.1 per cent in the third quarter.

Public investment also continued to expand by 41.4 per cent, accelerating from 21.9-per-cent growth in the third quarter of 2015.

Nonetheless, the export of goods and services declined by 3.5 per cent last quarter because of the sluggish global economy. Imports of goods and services also dropped by 1.3 per cent.

Full-year GDP increased by 2.8 per cent, up from only a 0.8-per-cent increase in 2014.

Household consumption and overall investment expanded respectively by 2.1 and 4.7 per cent in 2015. Overall production outside the agricultural sector increased by 3.6 per cent, while production in the agricultural sector dropped significantly, by 4.2 per cent.

The unemployment rate stood at only 0.8 per cent last year, while inflation was minus-0.9 per cent.

The country’s current account was also in surplus by 8.9 per cent of GDP.

“The growth of Thailand’s GDP this year will be in line with the government’s capability of managing and stimulating the economy, especially in the allocation of funds into major infrastructure projects as well as water management to solve the drought problem,” Porametee said.

“The government has been launching measures to look after farmers and lower-income people, as well as in the granting of measures to support investment in the private sector, as well as SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and business start-ups,” he said. Porametee said that for the export sector, the government should lead the private sector to penetrate specific markets, such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, which have spending power and growing economies.

Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said a Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) study found mostly positive impacts from the TPP, while negative impacts could be felt by the pharmaceutical industry and the government would have to find relief measures.

The Commerce Ministry is also studying the potential impacts.

“If Thailand takes part in the TPP, some of the country’s rules will need to be adjusted to be in line with TPP member countries, like state procurement,” Apisak said.

FPO director-general Krisda Chinavicharana said that if Thailand, which currently has trade surpluses with most TPP member countries, joined them it would have an opportunity to sell more products to them.

In 2014, Thailand exported Bt2.96 trillion to the 12 current TPP member countries and imported Bt2.69 trillion from them.

Of the 12 countries, Thailand had trade deficits with only Brunei, Japan and Malaysia.

The TPP countries also include the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Their combined gross domestic product totalled US$77.87 trillion in 2014, 36 per cent of world GDP.

The livestock sector will today formally ask the Commerce Ministry to provide details of the TPP’s potential negative impacts on the sector. The written request will be submitted on behalf of more than 10 associations in the sector, said Surachai Sudhitham, president of the National Swine Raisers Association.

He said the sector feared the high standards and labour and environmental conditions set by the US and Canada under the pact could lead to indirect trade barriers.

“We’d like to reiterate that the livestock sector gives its full support for the government to go ahead with the Asean Plus 6 deal or RCEP [Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership] that could not bring danger to all Thailand’s industries. This is because each member country’s economic factors do not differ much,” he said.

As agriculture becomes ever more important to meeting the food-security challenges of a growing and rapidly developing Asia-Pacific region, the need for improvements to its systems of collecting agricultural statistics is critical, a gathering of regional statisticians and experts heard on the first day of the biennial meeting of the Asia Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS).

The meeting plans to review the region’s preparedness in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The 26th Session of the Commission, co-organised by FAO, is being held in Thimphu, Bhutan, until Friday.

It is hosted by Bhutan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, with delegates drawn from some 20 countries and sub-regional organisations.

The participants will deliberate on the challenges of meeting the information needs of the agriculture sector to monitor and respond better to the patterns of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition while highlighting new methodologies and initiatives that will help them achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The Asia and Pacific region, home to more than 57 per cent |of global population, has nearly 62 per cent of the world’s undernourished. Data and information play vital roles in planning growth |and development for poverty |reduction in this largely agriculturally dependent region,” said Yeshy Dorji, Bhutan’s minister of agriculture and forests, during the |opening session of the |commission.

Mukesh Srivastava, secretary of APCAS, said: “Agricultural statistics are vital for monitoring progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“This meeting will not only focus its attention on the importance of the SDGs, but also highlight the critical role of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics [GSARS] in the region in ensuring that governments are prepared for today’s challenges in providing food security through sustainable agricultural production |and adaptation to climate |change.”

The GSARS is an ambitious |five-year programme implemented by the FAO in collaboration with other partners that seeks to empower developing countries to produce better agricultural and rural statistics for effective policymaking and to improve lives.

GSARS is currently being implemented in 15 countries in Asia and the Pacific to produce a Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Statistics (SPARS) that will assist in building national capacities to produce core data for monitoring the SDGs and for better development planning.

Bhutan is a GSARS partner and is preparing a Strategic Plan for Renewable Natural Resources Statistics (SPRNRS), which will be presented to the meeting to obtain feedback. Similar initiatives in Bangladesh, Laos, Samoa and Sri Lanka will also be presented during the commission session.

In addition to GSARS and the SDGs, the commission session will serve as a forum for sharing advances and innovation in economic, social and environmental statistics, including the new World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (WCA 2020, which will refer to the period 2016-2025).

WCA 2020 provides guidance to countries for integrated data collection on agriculture, including the crop, livestock, fish and forestry sub-sectors, in line with international standards, and addresses the main emerging information needs of the 21st century.

The improved data are vital to planning and policymaking in the region. The recommendations of APCAS serve as a guide for the FAO in redirecting its efforts towards building capacities of its member countries.

Some 68 accidents occurred last year, compared with 77 in 2014 and an annual average of 90 over the last five years, according to IATA’s latest annual report on aviation safety. Of 2015’s accidents, four were fatal, versus 12 a year earlier.

“2015 was another year of contrasts when it comes to aviation’s safety performance. In terms of the number of fatal accidents, it was an extraordinarily safe year. And the long-term trend data show us that flying is getting even safer. Yet we were all shocked and horrified by two deliberate acts–the destruction of Germanwings 9525 and Metrojet 9268. While there are no easy solutions to the mental health and security issues that were exposed in these tragedies, aviation continues to work to minimise the risk that such events will happen again,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said in a statement released on the eve of this week’s Singapore Airshow, Asia’s biggest aviation trade fair

The accidents covered by the report killed 136 people, down from 641 in 2014 and a five-year average of 504, according to IATA, which represents some 260 airlines or 83 percent of the world’s total air traffic.

If the losses of aircraft in incidents involving planes operated by German low-cost carrier Germanwings, a unit of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, and Russia’s Metrojet last year are included, the total number of deaths rose to 510, according to IATA.

But the Germanwings and Metrojet incidents were excluded from IATA’s accident statistics, as they were classified as deliberate acts of unlawful interference. A pilot of the Germanwings aircraft deliberately crashed that plane in the French Alps, while the Metrojet flight was suspected to have been brought down over the Sinai peninsula by a bomb smuggled on board.

IATA said the 2015 global jet accident rate, measured in hull losses per one million flights, was 0.32, compared with 0.27 in 2014 and 0.46 in the previous five years.

2015 Safety by the numbers

More than 3.5 billion people flew safely on 37.6 million flights (31.4 million by jet, 6.2 million by turboprop)

136 fatalities compared to 641 fatalities in 2014 and the five-year average of 504. Including those who lost their lives in Germanwings 9525 and Metrojet 9268, the 2015 figure was 510.

68 accidents (all aircraft types), down from 77 in 2014 and the five-year average of 90 per year

Four fatal accidents (all aircraft types) versus 12 in 2014 and the five-year average of 17.6

6 per cent of all accidents were fatal, below the five-year average of 19.6 per cent

10 hull loss accidents involving jets compared to 8 in 2014 and the five-year average of 13 per year

Zero jet hull loss accidents involving passenger fatalities, down from three in 2014, and the five-year average of 6.4 per year.

Although there were no passenger fatalities on jet transports there were two accidents with jet aircraft which resulted in loss of life:

The plan includes boasting the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) sector and promoting Thai food including fruit, Thai storytelling and contests as well as introducing attractive lighting at key attractions.

The plans also covers attractive Board of Investment incentives and promoting Thailand as a shopping paradise and a tourism gateway through an extensive website while also making the country more attractive by reforming visas and immigration rules as well as laws and regulations in general while beefing up inbound logistics and safety and security.

The three-month campaign is known as the Pracharath Project and involves public and private sector joint strategies. An additional 30 tourism issues have been included in this blueprint and are set for implementation later.

The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, was appointed to lead the public side of the campaign, with the private sector side original earmarked to be headed by Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the board of directors at the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Kalin later transferred the job to Chanin Donavanik, vice chairman and chairman of the executive committee at Dusit International. He also serves as chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s committee on tourism and service businesses.

Chanin will report the progress of the campaign to Somkid Jatusripitak, the deputy prime minister who is overseeing the Pracharath Project. Since Chanin took the job last month, he kicked off the first project by encouraging the more than 70,000 members of the Thai Chamber of Commerce to hold meetings in provinces in order to generate income among local communities. He also asked members of associations for insurance and banking as well as listed companies to push MICE business.

The working group will work with all hospitality and tourism stakeholders – including hospitals, airlines, travel agents, retail operators, and government agencies – to drive the projects three main objectives – pave the way for sustainable development, increase tourism revenue, and spread income to rural communities nationwide.

“Thailand’s tourism [industry] has grown by 150 per cent from last 10 years [from 10 million to 30 million arrivals) but major problems remain unsolved as they did last decade,” Chanin said.

His next meeting with Somkid is scheduled for Friday.

“We will propose that the government promotes Thai food and Thai fruits to international tourist before arriving [here] and until they leave the country including stopover passengers,” he said. “Aside from the expected 32 million tourists this year, we should have 120 million stopover passengers at major airports where they can buy Thai food and seasonal fruits.”

Before landing in the country, tourists will be exposed to Thai food including fruit while on planes via a new video clip. The working group has talked with Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, and Thai Smile Airways about screening the clip on planes. More year-round marketing and events are also planned in a bid to boost tourism.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents will create a package for Thai food and farm visits targeting the six million customers who travel with its members annually. About 12 of the country’s best rice farms will be part of the tour. Retails operators, restaurants, and media companies will be asked to help promote the move, while hospitals are willing to promote tourism to foreign patients. The Amazing Thai Food Festivals will be targeted at potential markets such as Japan.

In a bid to increase tourist spending, the working group will propose that the government invest in nighttime lighting at major attractions, beginning with historical destinations Sukhothai and the former Thai capital Ayutthaya, as well as canals in Bangkok. Some nighttime activities will be added at targeted places like night markets and popular street food locations.

Meanwhile, it is believed better tax refund procedures must be endorsed immediately to impress tourists after they have shopped, with tax refund counters at every store. Indonesia recently implemented a zero shopping tax for tourists after Hong Kong and Singapore did. It is also believed Thailand needs to cease taxing imported items such as wine and place lower taxes on luxury products.

For new investments, Chanin’s team will suggest financial institutions provide soft loans to existing hotels for renovations instead of pushing new developments because new projects may take years to complete. It is hoped the strategy will increase cash flow in the market. More than 400,000 registered rooms are already in the market excluding 300,000 rooms being operated by non-registered hotels. Thus, the government may need to revise hotel investment laws by relaxing some conditions to help small and medium-sized operators build hotels rather than pushing big projects. It is expected this would help SMEs expand.

According to Chanin, other important issues will be addressed by the government afterwards, probably in April. These include the tourism gateway, a website portal containing a maze of tourism information and a database. Tourists would be able to complete their travel plans on the site while SMEs would be able to promote their products and services on it to better compete again big players.

It is also believed more air connectivity, especially between second and third-tier cities throughout Southeast Asia, is needed. The working group initially discussed with major airlines in Thailand the idea of adding more services to new destinations such as Cebu and Davao in the Philippines. It is expected that if Thailand can link with more second and third-tier destinations in the region, it should have more visitors.

Quality Condominium Co executive Vasant Chawla said there was an influx of Chinese investment in the real-estate sector in Chiang Mai. Looking from a positive point of view, this would boost the growth of the sector. Most of the Chinese investors were small, people who started out by seeking second homes in Chiang Mai before later renting them out as daily accommodation to the growing number of Chinese tourists.

The entry of Chinese investors has affected small operators in Chiang Mai province’s real-estate and tourism related businesses, as Chinese customers prefer to use the services of investors from their own country.

However, it is not clear which real estate is mainly controlled by Chinese investors. Most of the property in question is 49 per cent owned by Chinese, while Thai partners manage the businesses.

Later some of these Chinese investors expanded from real estate into the tour-guide business, hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops to provide a comprehensive service to Chinese tourists in the province, which has hit local investors.

Vasant said the local businesspeople should improve their service quality to compete with the Chinese rivals.

Non Hiranchet, secretary of the Chiang Mai-Lamphun Real Estate Association, said most of these kinds of Chinese investors came to Chiang Mai on private trips to explore opportunities to take over small property assets or form joint ventures with local developers. Most of the targeted projects are close to the city centre.

The housing projects taken over by Chinese investors have between 50 and 200 units. The value of these takeovers has reached between Bt5 billion and Bt8 billion.

Typically, the price of each housing unit before such a takeover is around Bt3 million. The Chinese investors upgrade the units and put them on sale at for Bt4 million to Bt5 million each. The projects target Chinese customers.

Non predicted that this year such investors would take over around 10 housing projects in Chiang Mai worth Bt15 billion.

“At the moment this phenomenon has yet to hit the local developers but has boosted the growth of the housing sector. But in the long run it could affect the local businesspeople, who have to improve their products and join forces to defend their turf,” he said.

Phuket

Chinese investors have also been perceived as making strong inroads in the tourism business in Phuket to cash in on the rising number of Chinese arrivals there, at the expense of local operators.

Sathirapong Na Takuathung, president of the Phuket Tourist Association, said it was difficult to say whether Chinese investors dominated the market in Phuket, as in some businesses their shareholding proportion strictly complies with the law and they do not employ only foreign workers but a mixture of locals and foreigners.

Phuket has set up a committee to screen business registrations to prevent the use of local people as nominees of foreign investors.

Sathirapong said that what has made Phuket prosper should be supported, while what is illegal should be suppressed. The spate of Chinese investment in Phuket is not a problem if their joint investment with local partners complies with the law.

He also advised small Phuket operators in all sectors to join forces to improve their products and services.

It is estimated that there were 1.3 million Chinese arrivals in Phuket last year, up from 1.277 million in 2014.

Thanyarat Achariyachai, former chairman of the Senate tourism committee, said she wanted Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha to look into the matter as local operators have hardly shared in the benefits from the rising number of tourists in Phuket.

The institute revealed that Thai food exports to Myanmar increased 24 per cent last year. That makes Myanmar the world’s fourth largest importer of Thai food after Japan, the USA and China.

It is forecast that Myanmar’s economy will increase 8 per cent this year.

Yongvut Saovapruk, president of the National Food Institute, said that the institute took food-processing SMEs to the Myanmar International Franchise & SME Expo in Yangon last month.

According to its survey, Myanmar people are familiar with Thai food.

They love to eat noodle-based foods with a salty taste. They prefer fried food rather than the boiled food, but they do not like coconut milk being used in food.

Yongvut said that Myanmar represents 4 per cent of Thailand’s total food exports, which were valued at Bt900 billion last year.

Japan represents 13 per cent, the US 11 per cent and China with 9 per cent.

Myanmar is the leading export market for Thai foods in Asean at 17 per cent.

Thailand exported Bt231 billion in food and ingredients to Asean nations last year, 21 per cent of which was sugar.

Of the rest, the highest ranked were energy drinks, beer, whisky, non-dairy creamers, medical food, instant coffee, palm oil and crackers. Yongvut said that Thai food processing SMEs should note the growth of Myanmar’s economy.

“Euromonitor predicted that the average growth of the market for processing foods in Myanmar between 2014 and 2018 will be about 15 per cent per annum,” he said.

“However, the market growth of non-alcohol beverages in Myanmar is as high as 23 per cent per year over the period.”

Yongvut said that at the Myanmar International Franchise & SME Expo Thai producers were able to showcase their food products, including ant eggs in cans, dried banana, herb tea, instant Korat noodles, basil seed drinks and garcinia cambogia juice.

He said that the aim was to create awareness about Thai food brands and to meet potential trading partners in order to penetrate the Myanmar market.