The rules, effective October 1, mainly aim to ensure capital and liquidity adequacy at these institutions which in turn would boost confidence on the part of their clients.

One of the rules caps single lending or loan offering by state banks to major customers, hence their lending will not be tilted towards any individual.

It also limits lending by Government Savings Bank, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), GH Bank, and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand to any single client to a maximum of 15 per cent of their individual capital.

The same rule applies to loans from Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand) and Secondary Mortgage Corporation, capping their single lending at not more than 25 per cent of their individual capital.

They included many factories from China operating mainly in the fields of electronics, textiles, footwear and spare parts production, such as Hanwha, Yokowo, Shuafu, Goertek, Foxcom, Lenovo, Nintendo, Sharp, Kyocera and Oasis, according to the report.

“Although occupancy in key provinces grew year on year, available land coupled with an array of upcoming projects has seen foreign companies significantly increasing investment in Vietnam,” John Campbell, senior consultant at Savills Vietnam Industrial Services said.

“Manufacturers are showing interest in the Central Regions while developers are actively converting agricultural land to industrial usage, guaranteeing additional supply.”

The industrial sector is growing strongly with a tenfold increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last decade. Good land supply is facilitating incoming manufacturing projects and the rise of rental options with ready-built factories (RBF) and built-to-suit (BTS) solutions. Vietnam must be more selective with projects to move up the value chain, improve competitiveness and ensure sustainable growth, the White Paper noted.

Low labour costs and government incentives, particularly preferential tax rates, will continue to be critical drivers of FDI. However, to maintain the transition to higher-value industries, Vietnam must focus on the quality rather than the number of investments.

By enabling the latest production technologies and increasing workforce training, the government is actively easing qualms around viability, labour shortages and rising costs for a more transparent business environment.

According to Savills Vietnam, the US-China trade war, additional investment and new free trade agreements have all had a positive effect on Vietnam’s industrial sector.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) came into force in January while the EU Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was signed in June. These historic and ambitious agreements will eliminate 99 per cent of customs duties and have raised interest in industrial property.

Regional Comprehensive and Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations are underway and expected to be finalised at the end of 2019. The agreement will increase cooperation between ASEAN countries and the six Asia-Pacific states with existing free trade agreements.

In the first quarter of this year, about 326 industrial zones were established, with a total area of 95,500 ha. Of this number, 251 industrial zones are under operation with an area of 60,900ha, accounting for 74 per cent of the total, while 75 industrial parks are under construction, compensation and site clearance on a total area of 29,300 ha, according to Savills Vietnam.

GIT director Duangkamol Jiambutr on 5 September put the value of exports from January to July at US$9 billion or Bt283 billion, a 29.29-per-cent increase year on year.

Gold exports led the climb, rising in value 72.67 per cent, matching the global gold price.

The price of gold increased to $1,412.98 per ounce in July.

Amid trade disputes involving the United States, China, the European Union and Iran, investors continue to see gold as a safe bet and trading has steadily increased.

Thailand’s top export market for gems and jewellery is Switzerland with 56 per cent of total export value, followed by Singapore and Cambodia.

The value of Thai jewellery exports among other Southeast Asian countries soared 108.28 per cent in those same seven months, with Singapore taking an 82 per cent share of the offerings, up 178 per cent from the same period last year.

The export value stemming from demand in India rose 91.01 per cent, mainly in raw materials and semi-finished products.

However, exports to Hong Kong decreased by 6.7 per cent, the EU by 10.5 per cent, the Middle East by 2 per cent, Japan by 7.6 per cent, Mainland China by 10.5 per cent, Pacific Island countries by 25 per cent, and Russian and its commonwealth by nearly 77 per cent.

Duangkamol said Thai gem and jewellery exports benefited from Washington’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese products including jewellery, opening the door to the US market wider for Thailand.

He said Thailand must nevertheless carefully monitor tensions between the US and Iran, the Hong Kong protests and the effects of the baht’s appreciation.

Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, AOT president, said on Thursday (September 5) that AOT should have the terms of reference (TOR) for the bids ready later this year, and once this round of bidding is completed, it will seek bids for operating the duty-free pickup counter service at Suvarnabhumi International Airport before mid-next year.

Wichai Bunyu, AOT’s senior executive vice president for business development and marketing, said the TOR draft for duty-free shops at Don Mueang Airport should be ready for submission to AOT’s revenue panel next month. The current concession for duty-free shops comes to an end in September 2022.

The winning bidder of the Don Mueang duty-free concession will be awarded the right to operate shops in a space not exceeding 4,000 square metres, of which around 2,000sqm will be in the existing passenger building and the rest in the new building.

This concession will not include the right to run duty-free pickup counters.

Wichai said he expects the bids to run duty-free pickup counters at Don Mueang Airport to take place mid-next year.

Current concessions for duty-free pickup counters at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports expire at the end of September 2021 and 2022 respectively.

According to the report launched a few days ago, more than 60 per cent of small firms and close to 80 per cent of large firms in Singapore received orders over the internet last year.

Thailand, however, is close to the bottom of the chart, with less than 10 per cent of small firms and only about 20 per cent of large firms receiving online orders in the same year. Even Indonesia did better in comparison.

The report suggests that in most developing countries, there is considerable scope in reaping benefits from digitalisation in other parts of the economy apart from just the digital sector. Significant productivity gains have been observed once companies in the traditional sector opt for digitalisation in their production and management processes. One study estimates that as much as 15 per cent of the digital economy in 12 large developing and developed countries originates from the traditional sector.

The report also notes that there is evidence to suggest that the extent of benefits from digitalisation depends on pre-existing economic and social structures as well as critical-mass effects. As a result, those with higher income tend to benefit more than countries with low income.

“Digitalisation and rise of the platform economy are greatly transforming the way firms connect to others, whether they are buyers, suppliers, peers or supporting institutions at home and aboard,” says the report.

Most micro and small firms are generally far behind large ones in using information and communications technology (ICT), the report says, which proves to be a significant barrier to their effective integration to global value chains that are becoming increasingly reliant on digital solutions.

Globally, it is observed that a lower proportion of small enterprise make use of the internet than large companies, and even fewer enterprises generally engage in complex online tasks. For instance, companies are more likely to go online to obtain information about goods and services rather than to sell products online, which requires adapting their business model to the online world.

In countries where ICT is widely available, the proportion of enterprises performing more complex online tasks tends to be higher, the UNCTAD report says.

He was speaking at a seminar on the country’s economy hosted by the Thammasat Economics Association.

One of the BoI packages will focus on wooing digital business, while other will focus on wooing foreign firms to set up personnel-training centres in Thailand under the partnership with the local institutes. He added that many multinational firms have spoken to him about plans to expand investment in Thailand, which they regard as an Asean investment hub. The minister has also called on coalition parties to join forces to help materialise the government’s policies.

Somkid also said that the government is working hard on widening online access via schemes such as the internet village project and is promoting the rollout of advanced telecom technology as well as artificial intelligence and 5G technology. Hence, he said, it is time for companies to adopt advanced technology to reinforce their operations.

In his speech, he also explained that Thailand has to depend more on the local economy to reduce its exposure to external risks and volatility, adding that he believes the economy will expand in the fourth quarter thanks to the government’s recently launched stimulus packages.