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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/economy/40024033

Satellite auction raises 806 million baht from sale of three slots

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023

Only three of five packages of satellite orbital slots were sold to three bidders for a total of 806 million baht in an auction held by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission on Sunday.

None of the three qualified companies bid for packages one or five, while the commission auctioned off the other three for a combined 806.076 million baht, it said.

Last week, three companies were given approval by the commission to participate in the auction: Space Tech Innovation, a subsidiary of satellite service provider Thaicom, Prompt Technical Services, a company registered in 2000 as an electrical installation service firm, and state-run National Telecom.

The five packages, which Thailand had received from the International Telecommunication Union, are:

● Package 1: 50.5 degrees East slot with C1, N1 and P1R networks and 51 degrees East with 51 network. Bidding started at 374 million baht.

● Package 2: 78.5 degrees East with A2B and LSX2R networks. Bidding started at 360 million baht.

● Package 3: 119.5 degrees East with IP1, P3 and LSX3R networks and 120 degrees East with 120E network. Bidding started at 397 million baht.

● Package 4: 126 degrees East with 126E network. Bidding started at 8.06 million baht.

● Package 5: 142 degrees East with G3K and N5 networks. Bidding started at 189 million baht.

Representatives of the three companies arrived at the commission’s head office at 7am to start preparing for the auction. Bidding started at 10 am after commission chairman Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck made a speech to launch the auction.

The auction was held in the so-called sequential ascending clock method with each round of bidding lasting 20 minutes. Interested bidders had to tap to raise the price of a package, with each limited to 5% of the starting price.

Lots were drawn to arrange the order of the bidding to prevent collusion. Packages were auctioned in the following order: 4, 3, 5, 2 and 1.

The commission has yet to announce the names of the winning bids for the three packages.

Reporters said Package 4 was auctioned in two minutes, with one tap from one bidder. A satellite on the slot of Package 4 can be used for both broadcasting and telecommunications in the Asia-Pacific region. It was sold for 9.076 million baht.

The auction for Package 3, which can be used for broadband telecommunication over Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia and Indochina, started at 10:15am and ended at 10.21 am with one tap from one bidder. It was sold for 417 million baht.

The IT department suspended the bidding for 10 minutes due to a system error. The auction resumed at 10:40 am with the auction of Package 5, which covers the Asia-Pacific region. The bidding ended at 10:46 am with the “unsold” sign announced on the system’s board.

Bidding for Package 2 began at 11am. The slot can be used for a broadcast satellite and there are already two satellites in the area, which are Thaicom 6 and Thaicom 8.

The first round of Package 2’s auction ended at 11.05am with two bidders competing. The second round started at 11.10am and ended at 11:16am with one bidder getting the package for 380 million baht.

Bidding for Package 1 started at 11:30am and ended at 11:36 am with no bids.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/economy/40024031

Minister moves to attract more Japanese investment to Thailand

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023

The Industry Ministry’s Department of Industrial Promotion has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ishikawa Prefectural Government Office to promote industrial development between Thailand and Japan, Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said on Sunday

The agreement was signed during a recent visit by ministry officials to Japan to attract investment in Thailand.

“This move aims to boost Japanese investors’ confidence in the potential of Thailand’s industrial sector, enhance Thailand’s competitiveness and promote collaboration between Thai and Japanese small and medium enterprises,” Suriya said.

The department and Ishikawa Prefectural Government Office will organise activities to promote industrial development between two countries, such as knowledge exchange seminars, exhibitions and meetings, he said.

“The 22nd Otagai Forum will be held in Nanao city at the beginning of February to promote collaboration in the carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers and food processing industries,” the minister said. “Meanwhile, Kanazawa University will send its students to study in Thai companies in a bid to create a business network between Thailand and Ishikawa Prefecture,” he added.

The ministry is promoting Thai industrial estates to Japanese investors. More than 6,000 Japanese companies have investments in Thailand.

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• Local govt official in Japan makes tarts to boost industry

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https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/economy/40024015

Developing Asia’s productivity growth is slowing, IMF warns

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Asia’s developing nations should urgently solve technological constraints to sustain productivity growth, a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

Asia has become a digital and innovation powerhouse, IMF deputy managing director Antoinette Sayeh said on Friday.

Half of the world’s patents are issued in Asia, so there is no doubt that Asia is at the forefront of innovation and technological development, she told a seminar in Bangkok at which the IMF report “Accelerating Innovation and Digitalization in Asia to Boost Productivity” was released.

The seminar was co-hosted by Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Council.

Still, even though Asia is a growth engine, its productivity growth is slowing, according to the IMF report, which says this is a result of a failure to digitise quickly enough.

Sayeh said two factors are missing from the region’s development.

“There is no question that Asia leads in innovation, but there is a difference in the quality level of patents … Not all patents are the same. Not all patents are equal and … contribute to productivity growth,” she said.

The lack of technological diffusion is the second factor constraining growth, she said.

Antoinette Sayeh

“The second [factor], which is probably more relevant to a country like Thailand, is that technological diffusion has been very limited. So, the technology has vanished and is only available to a small proportion of the economy’s firms,” she explained.

Eteri Kvintradze, director of the IMF Capacity Development Office in Thailand, said the concentration of research and development (R&D) in a smaller number of companies deters the progress of innovation and productivity in Asia.

According to the IMF report, nearly half of small- and mid-sized enterprises and one-third of large firms in emerging and developing Asia identified obtaining financing as the most significant barrier to adopting technology.

Restrictive trade and regulations on foreign direct investment impede technology diffusion, the report says, adding that innovation has not translated into broad-based productivity growth in Asia.

“The concentration in R&D, digital, managerial, funds, and skilled talent widened Asia’s productivity gaps,” Kvintradze said. “However, digitisation and global exposure can assist in closing productivity gaps.”

Asia should foster innovation by providing R&D tax credits, increasing public spending on basic research, supporting intellectual property rights, and rewarding disruptive innovation, the IMF report advises.

Asian governments should also ensure a level playing field and a simplified and efficient insolvency framework to facilitate resource reallocation, the report says.

“Asian nations should really lower trade barriers and streamline FDI regulations, facilitate knowledge sharing between foreign and domestic firms, improve business-university R&D collaboration while upgrading labour skills, close digital divides, and improve digital infrastructure and the legal environment,” Kvintradze said.

Suriyon Thunkijanukij, the National Economic and Social Development Council’s senior advisor on policy and planning, said the innovation-aggregated productivity link isn’t working well in Thailand because the country lacks serious consistency in implementation.

“We’ve already set the right target, direction, and structural system. However, no actions are properly taken. We also need a monitoring mechanism to ensure that our policies are implemented,” Suriyon said.

Thailand should focus on increasing the capacity of youths to accelerate change in the next decade, he said.

Suriyon suggested that the government should provide access to reproductive health and childcare services, offer inclusive maternity support, promote universal child benefit policies, improve education quality and accessibility, and propose legislation that legally allows different types of families to have children.

However, he pointed out that these policies cannot be implemented unless people also formalise their participation in the system.

Meanwhile, Atip Asavanundd, executive director of the Digital Council of Thailand, and Kiatipong Ariyapruchaya, senior country economist at the World Bank, agreed that Thailand urgently requires education reform.

Thailand, according to Atip, has everything except well-educated people.

All Thai students should have access to digital devices and proper English language education, Atip said. Furthermore, students should be encouraged to study mathematics and science until they complete high school.

“Our educators must focus on pattern quality rather than pattern quantity,” he said.

Kiatipong added that basic education for all was essential, and that the country must adopt a more resilient and agile growth mindset.

Meanwhile, he advised Thailand to improve its government data system in order to boost the country’s competitiveness and overall service quality.

Pan-Arj Chairatana, director of the National Innovation Agency, said Thailand requires both innovative entrepreneurs and innovative politics.

“We need to put innovation on the national agenda. We already have science, technology, and innovation policies in place. We have a variety of mechanisms. We have a lot of incentives. However, it is not comprehensive enough to be called a national agenda,” he said.

Thailand needs to change its perception of innovation to move forward, Pan-Arj said.
 

Nongluck Ajanapanya