These 44 enterprises do not include listed enterprises.

The budget will cover key investment projects such as the Thailand-China high-speed train project’s Bangkok-Nong Khai section worth Bt28.1 billion and the BTS Purple Line from Tao Pun to Rat Burana (Kanchanaphisek Ring Road) worth Bt23.4 billion.

The 44 state enterprises are expected to post net profits of Bt79.8 billion in fiscal 2020.

Mobile games are the most-played platform, commanding 67 per cent of the Thai market, followed by PC games (24 per cent) and console games (9 per cent) as smartphones become more accessible, said Torboon Puangmaha, director of online station business at True Visions Group.

Video game players are usually aged between 13 to 34 years and the target group of companies in the field. The new strategy is to create a gaming event such as the ‘Thailand Game Show’ which provides a venue for the millennial game players and an opportunity for various brands to promote their products.

PTT recently held an event for clients to experience New Horizon, a learning game created by Thai developers while Oishi launched a campaign for gamers as Garnier hired celebrities to compete with professional E-Sports players.

The international game show in Thailand this year is supported by the Ministry of Education, aiming to steer the video game industry to creativity and encourage players to become developers.

55 brands, most video game service providers and 35 per cent of consumer product firms will join the event this year. 130,000 participants are expected with Bt200 million in estimated sales in three days.

The key factors to the show’s success include video games that are diverse, suitable for the lifestyle of the new generation, able to play as E-Sports and integrated with various entertainments.

Thailand Game Show 2019 will be held between October 25-27 on the fifth floor of Siam Paragon. Tickets are now available on Shopee. Details will be updated on website www.thailandgameshow.com

The Eat, Shop, Spend scheme Phase 2 will limit the number of registrants to 3 million.

Just as in the first phase, they will receive Bt1,000 in their G-Wallet 1 via their Krungthai Bank’s Paotang mobile application. But they will also have the right to receive cash back in G Wallet 2 of 15 per cent of their own money that they spend, but the amount should not exceed Bt30,000.

If registrants spend more than Bt30,000 and up to Bt50,000 of their own money, they will receive cash back of 20 per cent on this particular amount of spending.

The second phase will open for registration on October 24, with a quota of 1 million registrants per day. The registration is divided into two rounds, each allowing 500,000 people. The first round will open at 6am and the second at 6pm.

The second phase scheme will be valid until December 31 this year.

It is part of a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Expedia Group and TAT, following a successful collaboration that began in September 2018.

This strategic tripartite agreement comes at an opportune time. In 2020, TAT will focus on building confidence for Thailand’s tourism brands by encouraging and promoting responsible tourism to maintain the strong growth momentum of the Thai tourism sector.

TAT will also prioritise environmental sustainability and cultural vibrancy to position Thailand as a sustainable and preferred destination in accordance with its vision.

The agreement also supports the Thai government’s leadership and commitment towards conserving the marine environment and addressing marine debris issues, in particular plastic waste across the Asean region.

Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and South Pacific), said sustainability is top of mind for TAT as it gears up to mark its 60th anniversary in 2020.

“Collaborating with Expedia Group and Unesco will enable TAT to better incentivise business stakeholders and industry players to accelerate sustainable tourism development across the nation while supporting new travel experiences in emerging Thai destinations,” he said.

“TAT is committed to protecting the environment through its “Thailand Reduce Waste” initiative, which invites visitors and the tourism operators to reduce and eliminate single-use plastic that has significantly created waste in tourist destinations. It also promotes the use of organic materials that help save the earth and add value to local resources”.

Under the Pledge, all parties are committed to supporting the reduction and elimination of single-use plastic while also promoting local culture and activities in Thailand.

“The reality is that everyone needs to play their part in protecting the planet and in protecting culture, and with 1.4 billion tourists on the road last year alone, tourism has a key impact,” said Ernesto Ottone R, Unesco assistant director-general for culture. “The Sustainable Tourism Pledge aims to turn words into action. This partnership with Expedia Group and the pilot initiative with Thai tourism is about taking those steps to minimise waste in the tourism sector and to promote the role of culture for sustainable development. This is good for the planet, for communities and could be the start of something global”.

Since the launch of the previous MoU, Expedia Group has worked closely with TAT to drive international demand to emerging destinations such as Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son.

These efforts have come to fruition as demand for accommodation in Chiang Rai through Expedia Group grew by 25 per cent year on year.

In particular, international travellers to Chiang Rai proved to be high-value customers as they spent 10 per cent more on daily accommodation, and about one third of inbound travellers booked four-or five-star hotels, which is 1.5 times more likely than domestic travellers.

In this renewed MOU, Expedia Group will support TAT’s strategic goals in attracting high-value travellers (Go High), promoting emerging destinations to first-time visitors (Go New Customers) and generating more demand during low season (Go Low). These will include:

· Driving inbound and domestic tourism through sustained digital marketing campaigns.

· Identifying and promoting new tourism opportunities in Thailand.

· Leveraging industry experience, digital technology and big data to provide strategic advice on Thailand’s tourism vision and plans, including shaping a sustainable national framework for Thailand’s short-term accommodation industry, that Expedia Group is committed to leveraging its vacation rental brand -VRBO to advocate sustainable tourism in this sector.

· Promoting sustainable and responsible tourism in Thailand and creating environmental consciousness and encouraging sustainable practices in the tourism sector.

· Supporting the development of digital innovation and capabilities across Thailand’s tourism industry in both primary and emerging destinations, especially in the accommodation and local activities sector.

· Promoting traveller safety and security in Thailand.

Ang Choo Pin, senior director for government and corporate affairs/Asia at Expedia Group, said the Pledge demonstrates Expedia Group’s growing commitment to promoting sustainable tourism and enhancing environmental consciousness among our travel partners across the industry. He also said that Expedia Group is honoured to be collaborating with TAT and Unesco, both of whom are leaders in destination sustainability.

“Everyone has a responsibility to promote sustainable tourism to help preserve beautiful travel destinations around the world. We will work with the TAT and UNESCO to inspire and promote local tourism businesses. In particular, we will collaborate closely with the hospitality sector to enhance environmental and sustainable tourism consciousness and practices across Thailand,” Ang added.

Under the package, Government Housing Bank will provide soft loans to buyers while the transaction and mortgage fees will be cut for those purchasing a property worth no more than Bt 3 million.

The GHB will offer Bt50 billion in soft loans at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent for the first three years of the contract.

Homebuyers borrowing Bt1 million in mortgage loan would save up to Bt80,400 in the first three years, the bank said, adding that they only have to pay a monthly installment of Bt3,300.

Potential homebuyers can apply for the loans between October 24 to December 24, 2020.

GHB President Chatchai Sirilai said borrowers would pay an interest rate of 4.625 per cent in the fourth and fifth years. From sixth year onwards, the rate will increase to minimum retail rate (MRR) minus 1 per cent for members of the social security system and MRR minus 0.75 per cent for other groups. The current MRR rate is set at 6.625 per cent annually.

Transaction fee equivalent to 2 per cent of a house’s value will be cut to 0.01 per cent while mortgage fee of 1 per cent will be slashed to 0.01 per cent.

As such, a borrower would pay only Bt200 in fees on the purchase of a Bt1-million property, against Bt30,000 under current terms.

The housing package is part of government measures to boost domestic consumption amid a global slowdown, aiming at boosting the country’s economic growth by at least 3 per cent this year.

It is expected to benefit middle-income homebuyers as well as developers with large inventories.

A massive 21 million are now in debt, with people under the age of 30 considered the most fragile group. Because of the money they owe, these millennials have less buying power and that is having a knock-on effect on the government’s first-time house buyer project.

The seminar made the point that adolescents and new graduates are finding themselves in debt much too early in their lives.

A senior adviser to the National Economic and Social Development Council, Jinanggoon Rojananan said that even though household debt in the second quarter of 2019 dropped by 5.8 per cent from the first quarter, the situation is still risky.

More than 50 per cent of debts are long-time real estate loans and another 30 per cent are made up of personal debts, credit card debts, and car loan debts. These are considered high risk because they are repayable in the short term and can easily turn into bad debts, which will affect requests for loans by first-time house buyers.

People aged between 26-30 years old are most likely to get into debt as a result of unmanageable home loans.

Sakkapop Panyanukul, a senior executive with the Bank of Thailand (BOT)’s Financial Stability Unit, noted that most Thais overspent and saved 15 per cent less money over the past five years resulting in less buying power while the director of the Finance Ministry’s Macroeconomic Analysis Division Pisit Puapan said he believed that the Thai economy would continue to slow as a result of lower investment.

Consumers were encouraged to make financial plans and evaluate their needs before entering into more debt in the slowing economy.

Guerreiro cited a recent joint study released by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO), which showed that industries or businesses that use different kinds of intellectual property rights, namely copyright, industrial designs, patents and trademarks, account for 45 per cent of GDP, or about €6.6 trillion (Bt222.5 trillion) and generate 29 per cent of all jobs in the EU. This translates to 63 million jobs.

The study, released in September 2019, is an update of two prior studies conducted by the EUIPO and the EUPO and covers the 2014-2016 period.

The same study showed that trademark-intensive industries or those that use trademarks heavily were shown to have supported 46.7 million jobs in the EU. The study also pointed to a very interesting finding that these IPR-intensive industries pay better (48 per cent higher) than those that do not have intellectual property rights.

“Trademarks are very important to businesses, big or small, because they distinguish products and services and contribute to creating goodwill for trademark owners,” Guerreiro said.

A similar study commissioned by the International Trademark Association (INTA), which covered the period of 2009-2014, showed that trademark-intensive industries contributed to 13 per cent of employment in Thailand and their direct contribution to the GDP was 22 per cent.

The study was based on the methodology of the EUIPO and EPO study which was first released in 2013. The INTA study did not cover other IPRs.

In addition to Thailand, the other Southeast Asian countries included in the INTA-commissioned study were Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

In the other Southeast Asian countries, the contribution to employment ranged from 15 to 29 per cent, and to the GDP, the range was from 17 to 50 per cent.

Guerreiro noted that EU and SEA trademark experts recommend that business owners secure trademark registrations as early as possible as it is a preventive measure that protects the rights of trademark owners.

“Vigilance is also important – effective monitoring is necessary to prevent third parties from unlawfully using or securing registration over marks that rightfully belong to legitimate trademark owners.

Guerreiro added that enforcement of trademarks is becoming more complicated because rapid changes in technology and the online environment have made it easier for third parties to copy trademarks belonging to legitimate owners and to sell products that are being passed off as legitimate ones.

He said the new forms of trademarks or non-traditional trademarks are also now being developed by trademark owners, and related offices need to reinvent themselves to meet the demands of this evolving global landscape.

Traditional marks are the typical word, figurative marks, a combination of these marks, while non-traditional marks are hologram marks, movement marks, 3D marks, and the non-visible marks.

“We now see different forms of marks such as hologram marks, movement marks, even sound marks,” he said.

He added that in Europe, some companies even filed to register a “scent mark”, like the smell of fruits. However, so far none of the IP offices in European countries have accepted these filings.

Guerreiro said technology has made trademark examination more efficient because IP offices now have the tools that make trademark searches and examination easier and faster.

“We now even have an online image search that shows examiners whether figurative marks are similar to others registered or applied earlier. With these tools, the quality of examination has also improved because the likelihood that a conflicting mark will be registered has become lower,” he said.

The IP Key Southeast Asia Project organised a conference on trademarks on October 15-16 in Bangkok.

The two-day conference aimed to promote the improvement of trademark examination, protection and enforcement, including the quality and enforceability of trademark applications filed in IP offices in Southeast Asia.

In addition to the protection of well-known marks, the conference also focused on measures taken by owners and IP offices to prevent “bad faith” registrations.

Other topics of conversation included competency-based trademark examination and the issues that trademark owners and IP attorneys face when protecting marks in the digital environment.

The two-day conference was attended by experts from the EU, IP offices from Southeast Asia, the academic and business communities, IP attorneys, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and the International Trademark Association.

The EUIPO is an agency of the EU, based in Alicante, Spain. It manages the registration of the European Union trademark and the registered community design, both of which provide protection in all 28 EU member states, as well as carrying out cooperation activities with the national and regional intellectual property offices of the EU.

Under the goals of its Strategic Plan 2020, the EUIPO, in cooperation with national and regional EU IP offices, aims to promote global cooperation on IP between EU partners, third countries and multilateral organisations.

Video: https://youtu.be/0Kk_ng0bhmc

The most demanded units are priced between Bt5 – Bt10 million and have one or two bedrooms, Wongsakorn Prasitwipat, managing director of Property Perfect, said.

Even though the actual number has yet to be assessed, customers appear more interested in buying condominiums than usual and developers should prepare for a potential increase in demand.

Hong Kong is not a big market but buyers want to live in the centre of the city, unlike mainland Chinese buyers who willingly buy condominiums in the outskirts of Bangkok to take advantage of cheaper prices.

Piya Prayong, chief executive of Pruksa Real Estate, has said that real estate agents from Hong Kong are tending to contact the larger agencies in Thailand, as demand is likely to increase over the long term due to limited residential spaces.

Hong Kongers interested in buying condominiums in the centre of Bangkok via agencies have increased by 20 per cent. They are eyeing units priced between Bt3 million and Bt5 million and Pruksa Real Estate’s The Privacy on Sukhumvit 101 could meet this demand, Piya added.

Wasan Kiangsiri, president of the Housing Business, noted that the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong was not the key factor in the increased interest, as residents were waiting to see what will happen next.

Yasushi Yamada of Sotheby’s International Realty, disagreed, expressing the view that the crisis in Hong Kong could well result in new investment in other countries, especially those in the ASEAN region.

Thitiwat Teerakulthanyaroj of Century 21 (Thailand) noted that some investors and real estate agencies in Hong Kong have already initiated agreements in Thailand, such as Fortune Hand Ventures from Hong Kong which has collaborated with BTS Group Holdings to develop real estate projects valued at Bt5 billion.

Moreover, small investors are likely to choose Thailand as a second residence due to the crisis while those who have more buying power choose England, Canada, or Singapore for their geographic familiarity to Hong Kong.

Customers from Hong Kong will buy condominiums in Thailand for investment, ownership, or residence if an unexpected situation arises but the number of those really interested in living in Thailand is still small, he said.