The prospect of eased trade and investment regulations in Europe’s second-biggest economy, they say, would provide a boost to Thai exporters and investors who are eyeing the key market.

The Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN), under the Commerce Ministry, plans to push for negotiations on an amendment of the tariff quota on Thai goods that are exported to the European Union and the United Kingdom, after it completes it exit from the bloc.

The DTN will keep a close eye on developments concerning Brexit and prepare Thailand for the new trading and investment landscape after the historic break-up. Last week, the EU granted the UK a six-month extension to its departure date, pushing the process back to as late as October 31, said Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the DTN.

The uncertainties swirling around Brexit have led to short-term impacts on Thailand, such as those related to the weakening of the British pound, making Thai exports to the UK less competitive, Auramon said.

However, Thailand may not be hurt in the long run. On the contrary, Thailand may see benefits from Brexit, as the UK’s regulations on trade and investment may become more flexible, Auramon said.

For example, the UK announced it would stop enforcing the anti-dumping tax on four categories of Thai exports: sweet corn, fibreglass, hand pallet trucks, and steel pipe joints, she said.

The UK is Thailand’s 20th largest trading partner with a total trade value of US$7 billion in 2018. Of that amount, Thailand exported some $4 billion worth of goods while importing $2.9 billion. Trade with Britain accounts for 1.4 per cent of Thailand’s total trade value with the world.

The Commerce Ministry is in negotiations with the UK and the EU to amend the tax quota for Thai goods entering these markets after Brexit. The quota affects exports such as rice, canned fish, and cassava.

“Our primary goal is preserving the interest of Thailand to receive the post-Brexit total quota (the UK and the EU combined) of no less than the original quota. The Ministry is also preparing a feasibility study on a potential Thailand-UK free-trade agreement in the future,” Auramon said.

Visitors to these can qualify for the deductions on purchases to a maximum of Bt15,000 for each claimant.

The department is set to hand over the package for review by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, in the hope of propping up the economy in the second and third quarters of this year.

Revenue director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas said that the department agreed with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, which had urged the department to promote tourism in secondary cities through tax support measures.

Such measures have been done before and the department is reviewing possible impacts on its tax collection through the annual personal income tax submission, which had been scheduled to end in March.

So far, the measures may not have much effect on the tax collection but, from the economic perspective, they could lead to more income distribution in the targeted cities, Ekniti said.

“In the economic view of the secondary cities, we expect this measure to help distribute income,” he said. “It’s the economic opportunity. Meanwhile, in principle, a specific period must be determined. Otherwise, people will wait for travel or spend late in the period. We expect to use this measure in the second and third quarters of the year, given the last quarter is the main tourism season.”

The spending under the Bt15,000 cap will be used as a tax deduction in the 2019 tax year, he said.

An anonymous source from the Ministry of Finance said that Somkid yesterday met with ministry officials to discuss economic stimulus and the prospects for the economy in the second and third quarters. It is expected to down amid the political vacuum.

“This year, the economy is expected to slow down compared with the previous year,” the source said. “The growth is estimated at 3.8-3.9 per cent and some research houses predict it come in lower than 3.5 per cent due to estimated lower-than-targeted exports as a result of the global economy. This is combined with the Thai political situation. Although an election took place, the outlook for the formation of the new government is not smooth and this has affected investors’ confidence.

“Therefore, it’s necessary for Ministry of Finance to propose short-term economic measures.”

The study, the first of its kind, entitled “New Tech Adoption Index” (NTAI), highlights Asia’s prominence in driving global new technology advancement, with the region’s high demand fuelling growth of overall product category in a majority of the region’s market by at least 35 per cent in both volume and value terms in the past year.

The NTAI leverages GfK’s proprietary point-of-sales data to specifically analyse new consumer technology take-up across over 250,000 products in the consumer durables and technology industry across nine Asian and six key European markets.

New consumer technology products categorised into four main baskets — fun, comfort, freedom and essential — are analysed accordingly, including hardware items and those with software-led features such as Ultra HD/4K and Gaming (fun), Smart Appliances (comfort), True Wireless, Wearables and AI Speaker (freedom) and screen size larger than 5.5” for smart + mobile phones (essential).

“To be competitive, more and more brands are introducing products with innovative features or functionality. In order to succeed in their innovation efforts, it is important for brands to understand where they can find their greatest potential of early adopters, who can then create a network effect for their products,” said Vishal Bali, Managing Director for Client Solutions and Innovation, APAC.

GfK reported a wide ranging spectrum of NTAI between 46 and 146 for the nine Asian markets, highlighting the vast differing levels of new technology adoption in the region. While showcasing the rise of key markets in new tech adoption, it also reveals the fact that the region is home to some of the laggards in this area. The top three markets with the highest overall NTAIs are China (146), Singapore (134) and South Korea (128), while India (46) and Indonesia (67) took their positions at the opposite end of the scale.

A deeper dive into the Asia’s NTAI reveals that 24 of the total 70 cities evaluated in the study showed above average readings, with the EIGHT top cities all hailing from China (NTAI range:161-196) — led by Beijing (196) and Shanghai (193). Eight of South Korea’s key cities followed next (NTAI range: 147-156) with Seoul (156), Chungcheong (156) and Inchon (153) showing the highest new tech adoption propensity within this market. The most diverse market within Asia is Indonesia, ranging from 33 to 118 with Botabek being the city with the highest level of new tech adoption.

This was one of the findings of the latest Daily Rates research published by ECA International, a provider of information and software for the management of employees around the world.

“The cost of a business trip to Singapore has stayed relatively static due to the steady level of international business travel to the country,” said Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA International.

“However, the price of a hotel room has dropped slightly, down to US$249 per night from $256 in 2018. Despite this small decrease in the average price, the demand remained at about the same level. Singapore continues to be popular for international business, as illustrated by the fact that Singapore remains in the top five most expensive Asian locations.”

ECA’s Daily Rates reports provide average costs for hotel accommodation, which makes up the bulk of any daily allowance, as well as meals, drinks, laundry, taxi transport and daily essentials. This information is used by companies to determine daily expense allowances for staff who undertake business travel.

Elsewhere in the region, Bangkok has seen an increase in the cost of business travel, with the typical business trip costing US$290 a day.

“We have seen a continued increase in the cost of goods and services and hotel accommodation in Bangkok, and this has had a clear effect on the cost of business travel to the city,” said Quane. “As an increasing number of companies and MNCs look to grow their influence in Thailand and the surrounding areas, we have seen the price of hotel stays and business trip essentials rise accordingly.”

For the second successive year, Hong Kong has been named as the most expensive location in Asia for business travel. The average business trip to Hong Kong would cost an overall total of US$515 per day, including hotel costs of US$286.

“Hong Kong has always been one of the most expensive Asian locations to visit on business, due to the combination of a high cost of goods and services and expensive hotel prices,” Quane said. “However, in recent years, we have seen Hong Kong pull away slightly from other expensive locations such as Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore. This year has been no different, with Hong Kong now costing 4 per cent more than Tokyo and 8 per cent more than Seoul – two locations that are in second and third places respectively.”

Tokyo remains second in the Asia rankings, with the typical business trip now costing US$494 a day. Seoul is in third place based on the overall price of a business trip. However, the South Korean capital moves above Tokyo into second place if hotel costs are excluded.

“We expect to see the costs of business travel to Tokyo increase over the next 12 months due the city hosting major events such as the Rugby World Cup as well as the Olympic and Paralympic games between now and the end of 2020,” Quane said.

“This, together with the city’s emergence as a major tourist destination in recent years and a shortage of suitable accommodation, contribute to high hotel costs. Also, recent regulatory changes which reduce the availability of other short-term accommodation options such as Airbnb are likely to drive a further increase in accommodation costs in the coming year.

“The fact that Seoul moves to second place in the rankings when hotel costs are excluded shows that the price of food, drinks, and other incidentals that make up the overall cost of a trip is actually higher in Seoul than Tokyo. This is a trend we see in many locations, where the hotel cost can inflate the overall figure. This demonstrates the importance of looking at all aspects of a business trip, and not necessarily just the combined cost,” said Quane.

In China, the most expensive business trip destination is Shanghai, at US$378 per day.

“Although a business trip to Shanghai would be relatively expensive compared to other Chinese cities, Shanghai is outside of the top 10 most expensive locations in Asia for business travel, and outside of the top 100 globally.”

However, when hotel costs are excluded from the total price, Chinese cities are all much higher placed in the rankings as hotel costs in China are comparatively cheaper than many other locations across the world.

“When excluding the cost of hotels from the price of an overall business trip, the data shows a different story. Every Chinese city in our rankings would be much higher placed, notably with Shanghai jumping from 117th in the world to 89th, and Beijing entering the global top 100 as well,” Quane said.

The cheapest location in ECA’s rankings was Johor Bahru in Malaysia, where a business trip would cost just US$184 per day, with hotel costs accounting for just US$83 of this amount.

New York is the most expensive location in the world for business travel, with the average per day cost of a business trip standing at US$799.

“New York tops the rankings for another year as the price of business travel continues to grow,” Quane said.