Prasert, currently chairman of Thaicom’s executive committee, is a former chief executive officer of PTT.

The board appointed Anek Pana-apichon as chairman of the executive committee in place of Prasert, also effective March 24.

One Line is a new company formed in the merging of Japanese liners NKY, MOL and K Line, Sahathai chief executive Sauwakun Karuchit said on Monday.

Sahathai also plans to invest around Bt300 million in 2018-2019 to purchase new machinery and equipment to expand capacity and capabilities of its container depot business through Bangkok Container Depot Services, its subsidiary.

Sauwakan said the company has, since the beginning of this year, seen continuous volume growth from both existing and new customers, all of which are global liners.

She said Sahathai would realise higher full-year revenues from its free-tax zone warehouses compared with the seven months’ earnings last year from servicing a luxury carmaker.

She expressed confidence in greater business volume through port and related logistics business-expansion strategies.

Sahathai currently delivers full-service solutions to more than 10 global liners, and its services not only differentiate it from other logistics companies but also allows it to better respond to all customers’ requirements, she said.

Bangkok Barge, its joint venture with Mitsui OSK Lines of Japan, has also dramatically increased its business volume.

The first installation, at FN Outlet Phra Na Khon Sri Ayutthaya, will be ready for operation within the first half of 2018.

The partnership underlines a shared vision of promoting sustainable operational efficiency and cost reduction through green energy and FN’s confidence in Banpu Infinergy’s expertise, high-quality equipment, and highly professional after-sales service.

Aimed at providing secure, cost-effective and convenient payment solutions to let small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) capture opportunities in a rapidly digitalising economy, UnionPay will be showcasing a range of mobile and wearable payment technologies that can be easily adopted.

Dr Poramaporn Prasarttong-Osoth, chief operating officer of BDMS and chief executive of Bangkok Hospital Group, signed the document with Henk De Jong, executive vice president of Royal Philips.

The collaboration will focus on research and development in neurology and cardiology diagnosis and treatment through statistical follow-up, innovation and connected healthcare technology.

As of the end of 2017, TCGC recorded total outstanding loan guarantees of Bt360 billion covering 300,000 SMEs.

This year, TCGC will focus on SMEs who plan to upgrade or increase their production capacity. This follows its government approved Bt81 billion worth of loan guarantees between August 2017 and June 30 this year.

From August 2017 until February this year, TCGC has provided guarantees for loans under its increased capacity programme worth Bt51 billion. TCGC is confident that it will provide guarantees for the remaining Bt30 billion between now and June 30 this year, Wichet said.

Under this programme, customers can obtain loan guarantees to save costs. TCGC will guarantee an average 1.75 per cent a year for the first four years or a combined seven per cent for four years. This helps customers reduce their business costs, Wichet said.

This is apart of its guarantee loan target of Bt100 billion by the end of this year, up 16 per cent of its loan guarantee of Bt86 billion last year. TCGC will also maintain its non-performing loans, which totalled no more than 13.4 per cent early this year – a reduction from 13.48 per cent at the end of 2017, he said.

Wichet added that in the first two months of this year, TCGC had success in guaranteeing loans of Bt16 billion, or about 16 per cent of its total guarantee loan target for this year.

“At present, most commercial banks restrict their provision of loans to the customers, especially SMEs,” he said. “As a result, TCGC has invited SMEs to visit one of the 11 TCGC branches nationwide to see an adviser before applying for a loan from the commercial banks. This will help them to get a bigger loan from the banks, because TCGC will guarantee the loan for them.”

Most commercial banks have restrictions on providing loans for SMEs because non-performing loans from this sector are rising.

However, Wichet said, TCGC will help SMEs by suggesting how they can manage their businesses and draw up a business plan to get a bank loan. This will help them to get loan easier than if they apply for the loan by themselves, he said.

Jacobs, who had been chief executive at Qualcomm for nearly a decade and executive chairman until March 9, will not be renominated to its board at its annual meeting next Friday, the company said in a statement.

The board made a decision not to renominate Jacobs “following his notification to the board that he has decided to explore the possibility of making a proposal to acquire Qualcomm.”

As a result, the number of board members will be reduced from 11 to 10 as of the holding of the annual meeting.

The statement said that if Jacobs does make a bid, “the board will of course evaluate it consistent with its fiduciary duties to shareholders.”

The announcement comes after reports that Jacobs has sought to raise capital for a Qualcomm bid, and had approached Japanese tech giant SoftBank, which is in the midst of a major investment spree in the sector.

Jacobs is the son of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and was CEO at the San Diego firm from 2005 to 2014.

Last week, he was replaced as chairman by Jeffrey Henderson, who will be non-executive chairman at Qualcomm, the leading maker of chips for smartphones.

The news comes days after US President Donald Trump blocked a $117 billion hostile bid from Broadcom, citing national security reasons.

US officials had maintained that Broadcom would have curbed innovation at the US chip giant and opened the door to Chinese firms to dominate the process for 5G, or fifth-generation wireless networks.

Qualcomm’s market value is around $90 billion, and is seen as an important player in the 5G race, but it has been hampered by antitrust actions around the world and litigation with Apple over claims that the chipmaker abused its dominance in the sector.

Qualcomm is also in the process of trying to close a takeover of Dutch chip rival NXP.

The board statement said that Qualcomm is now “focused on executing its business plan and maximizing value for shareholders as an independent company.”

It added that Jacobs “has been a valued employee and director of Qualcomm since 1990” and that “he has been one of the great innovators in our industry.”

Oratip Tiangyuttitom and her husband Wattanapong Thongsoi chose Earleaf acacia trees as their source stock for the biomass fuel, which they supply to manufacturing plants.

“We decided to resign from our jobs to build our business from our savings of Bt150,000 in 2011,” Oratip said in an interview with The Nation recently. “We began trading in agricultural products for supply to paper manufacturing plants and went on to generate sales at an average of Bt8 million a year.

“Then we saw there was strong demand for biomass energy products for supply to manufacturing plants. As a result, we looked into this and saw that a fast-growing tree like Earleaf acacia was the most suitable for processing into biomass energy products. And with that change, we increased our sales value to Bt10 million a year.”

Oratip said that she and her husband saw continued strong demand in the market for biomass energy products, giving them the confidence to commit to the Bt30 million investment last year for the development of the manufacturing plant to produce the biomass fuel from Earleaf acacia. The plant has a production capacity to produce, by chopper type, about 20 tonnes per hour, and up to 3 tonnes per hour by the rod-type option.

The company has signed contracts with 100 nearby farmers to supply the production plant with Earleaf acacia trees. This arrangement has resulted in increased incomes for the participating farmers at an average of Bt4,000 a month.

“The farmers still grow rice and other agricultural products, so by supplying to us they gain extra income, especially as the Earleaf acacia are fast-growing trees,” she said.

She said the manufacturing plant began operations early this year and was producing at up to 90 per cent of its production capacity each day.

The plant also supplies its products to three manufacturing plants that have ordered the biomass fuel products. These customers, at around 300 kilometres from the plant, are not that far away.

With the orders coming in from customers, Oratip said the company estimates its total revenue will reach Bt30 million this year, up from Bt10 million last year. The company also expects sales will jump to Bt50 million in 2019, thanks to strong demand in the market and the capability of the plant to scale up output to meet customers’ needs.

“We decided to go into business by ourselves as we believed we could achieve what we set out to do, after seeing there was demand in the market for biomass energy products from several manufacturing plants in nationwide,” Oratip said.

She said the company plans to increase its production capacity to meet the strong demand, after the production plant begins operating at full capacity sometime this year or the next. Such a move would result in an expansion of the company’s contract farming arrangements to bring in as many 1,000 farmers as suppliers.