The price of gold dropped by a sharp Bt350 per baht weight in morning trade on Wednesday, the Gold Traders Association reported.
As of 9.26am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt27,900 per baht weight and selling price Bt28,000, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,394.12 and Bt28,500, respectively.
At Tuesday’s close, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt28,250 per baht weight and selling price Bt28,350, while gold ornaments cost Bt27,742.80 and Bt28,850, respectively.
The spot gold price dropped sharply, by $34.3 to $1,894.6 (Bt59,065) per ounce, at Tuesday’s close due to a strengthening dollar as investors bought the currency as a safe-haven asset amid uncertainty over the rollout of US economic stimulus measures.
The Hong Kong gold price dropped to HK$17,490 (Bt70,355) per tael on Wednesday morning, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
WHA Group launches e-commerce park in boost to industrial tech
Oct 14. 2020Chairwoman and Group CEO Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, centre
By The Nation
WHA Corporation PCL, or WHA Group, a company offering fully integrated logistics and industrial facilities solutions, recently launched the country’s first WHA E-Commerce Park.
With a building area spanning more than 200,000 square metres, the new facility is located along Bang Na-Trad Road in Chachoengsao’s Bang Pakong district.
The park offers advanced features, such as loading doors, truck yards, automation technology, robotics and smart logistics to facilitate all forms of e-commerce activities and operations. It is expected to enhance the country’s role in cutting-edge distribution system and online trade services.
“The opening of our first WHA E-Commerce Park represents a significant milestone for our group,” said chairwoman and Group CEO Jareeporn Jarukornsakul.
“It reaffirms the strategic role we play in the logistics industry in the EEC [Eastern Economic Corridor], as well as our commitment to support and enhance the development of Thailand’s industrial technologies in the near future,” she added.
With the addition of this park, WHA will control 2.56 million square metres by the year-end in various logistics facilities in the country, including built-to-suit facilities, ready-built factories and warehouses.
10 changing roles of internal audit after Covid-19 outbreak
Oct 13. 2020Kaysarin Angkanurakbun
By Kaysarin Angkanurakbun
Special to The Nation
As organisations adapt to dealing with the coronavirus outbreak and impact, internal audit (IA) functions have an important role to play to continue to provide critical assurance; help advise management and the board on the shifting risk and controls landscape; and help anticipate emerging risks.
The plans that organisations are putting in place to contain and respond to the outbreak are likely to be in place for a period of time. IA should be prepared to adjust to this period in a sustainable way and adapt to this ‘new normal’. It is important that IA is proactive and prepared, while remaining pragmatic, as the situation continues to evolve.
As such, IA functions should consider 10 changes in the role of IA. However, contents in this paper should not be considered comprehensive or definitive as the pandemic is evolving.
1. Re-calibrate its approach to cyclical audit planning and coverage of risk .
IA should consider adopting an agile portfolio management approach, eg agile audit planning in time-boxed sprints and continually updating backlog of the audit to be undertaken when goals are clear and resources are in place.
2. Adjust its coverage to ensure that it takes a pragmatic and balanced consideration of risk.
Due to the changing risk landscape, it is imperative that IA collaborate with key stakeholders to understand any new and/or elevated risks, and to assess how best to support with the provision of assurance.
3. Continue to deliver its ongoing assurance activities without disrupting critical operational areas at a time of crisis, for example:
▪︎Remote working to perform the audit, and what, if any, impact remote-working has on the assessment of the control environment being considered, and practicalities of how the audit will be undertaken with all key stakeholders;
▪︎Adopt and/or increase the use of new technologies to deliver work, such as Microsoft Teams, Skype or Zoom for virtual meetings/workshops;
▪︎Accelerate the deployment of analytics to deliver IA work remotely, increase coverage, focus on outliers, and reduce business interruption, whilst still providing valuable insights and assurance.
4. Work more closely with other assurance providers to reduce disruption to the business.
In these times of reduced management and organisational bandwidth, IA functions should seek opportunities to reduce overlap with other assurance providers including external audit, compliance, and enterprise risk management.
5. Avoid having to deliver a large part of the IA plan later in the year when capacity will be under pressure and get more involved now whilst they have time, for example:
▪︎Whether work can be performed remotely, leveraging technology available to them, and, if necessary, agree on amended or reduced scopes of work and have face-to-face meetings later when social distancing allows;
▪︎Prioritise providing assurance over emerging risk areas;
▪︎Where it is necessary to cancel and/or defer work, discuss with the board and formally agree with the audit committee if IA resources can be re-purposed to support with projects, critical activities or initiatives in response to Covid-19.
6. Provide an objective voice and real-time assurance to teams who need to make decisions quickly for the organisation to look forward, for example,
▪︎Attending project-steering groups and providing an independent, objective voice to help challenge management’s thinking on risk;
▪︎Critiquing the design of new and/or amended controls prior to implementation as a result of a changing work environment;
▪︎The need for long and time-consuming reports should be challenged, as IA functions can embrace agile reporting mechanisms to deliver points of view and insights sooner in order to maximise impacts to the organisation.
7. Engage with broader stakeholders, including regulators and audit committees to be clear on how IA can best add value/agree changes to the IA plan.
Early discussions will help teams understand any critical work required, and whether there are any new and/or elevated risks that need incorporating into the annual IA plan. Revised IA areas of focus should be agreed.
8. Function meeting of its regulatory/statutory requirements and the ability of CAEs to comment on control environments following impact of non-essential IA work is deferred or re-shaped to IA.
It is important to be clear on what has and has not been considered across the year (or indeed within a specific IA review) and to adopt a limitation of scope approach where needed.
9. Address a gap in coverage to impact the ability for audit committees to meet annual reporting requirements on controls.
In certain sectors, an annual opinion on controls or the control environment might be required. In such circumstances where IA work may be reduced, it will be important to be clear on what has and has not been considered across the year and to adopt a limitation of scope approach.
10. Form part of/or support crisis response teams.
Whilst in many organisations it would not be expected for IA functions to form part of the immediate response, IA should play a key role within the “Looking Ahead” team.
In summary, plans that organisations are putting in place to contain and respond to the Covid-19 outbreak are likely to be in place for a period of time, and IA should be prepared to adjust to this period in a sustainable way and adapt to this ‘new normal’. It is important that IA is proactive and prepared, while remaining pragmatic, as the situation continues to evolve.
(Contents in this article should not be considered comprehensive or definitive as the pandemic is evolving.)
The writer is director, risk advisory services, Deloitte Thailand
Thai Airways International (THAI) wants to boost its non-flight income from 15 per cent to 50 per cent of total revenue in the next five years, THAI Catering managing director Varangkana Luerojvong told Krungthep Turakit newspaper.
Varangkana said the non-flight businesses – catering, repair and cargo services – have adjusted their strategies in order to raise revenue.
She said the catering business aims to boost its annual revenue from Bt10 billion to Bt20 billion in the next five years.
The repair and cargo businesses are thought to have set similar targets – to double their revenue from the current Bt15 billion-Bt20 billion and Bt20 billion, respectively.
Last year the airline’s catering business posted revenue of Bt8.5 billion.
THAI Catering now aims to expand its franchises for all product brands to a total 700 outlets, aiming to boost its revenue by at least Bt3.5 billion next year.
THAI entered rehabilitation restructuring under bankruptcy court supervision on September 14. The airline will submit its rehab plan for the court’s consideration in the fourth quarter of this year.
Bangchak Corporation (BCP) has announced it is pushing ahead with investment in its Norwegian oil and gas drilling arm OKEA, saying there was no risk of losses even if the oil price falls.
Chaiwat Kovavisarach, BCP president and CEO, said OKEA was now back producing about 20,000 barrels per day after a June-July dip due to maintenance work.
OKEA’s low production costs of US$15 per barrel are usually offset by high government tariffs, but the Norwegian government has paid back US$100 million in tariffs to OKEA to relieve the Covid-19 impact, said Chaiwat.
Therefore, BCP would not change its policy to invest in the upstream business, he added.
“BCP is currently drafting a budget plan for investment in additional production sites, expecting to be finalised by November this year,” he said.
BCP plans include a joint venture to develop lithium mines in Argentina, which is expected to begin production late next year.
“The company is studying the market locations and demand for lithium, and how to maximise benefits,” he said.
The project’s first-phase production capacity has been raised from 25,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes per year, while the company expects to realise revenue in 2021. BCP will buy approximately 6,000 tonnes of lithium per year, either to sell or to use to produce batteries.
BCP reports that several businesses are already interested in buying lithium from the company.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell by 5.44 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 1,267.99 in the morning session on Wednesday.
An analyst at Krungsri Securities expected the index to fluctuate between 1,265 and 1,280 points due to a lack of positive sentiments despite the progress in discussions on fresh US economic stimulus measures.
“The student-led protesters’ political rally and uncertainty over weak commercial banks’ third-quarter performance would pressure the index,” he pointed out.
He recommended investors buy the shares of:
> CRC, HMPro, JMart, Com7 and KTC that benefit from the government’s “Shop Dee Mee Kuen” (Shop and Payback) scheme.
> TU, PlanB, STGT, Com7, Asian and CBG, whose third-quarter performance is expected to grow.
The SET Index closed at 1,273.43 on Monday, up 6.29 points, or 0.50 per cent. Total transactions amounted to Bt46 billion, with an index high of 1,277.64 points and a low of 1,265.27.
The index on Tuesday was closed for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great Memorial Day.
By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Rita Nazareth, Claire Ballentine · BUSINESS
Stocks fell on speculation that recent gains have outpaced prospects for a quick end to the stalemate over fresh economic stimulus. Treasurys and the dollar climbed.
Banks led losses in the S&P 500, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. sinking as investors worried that third-quarter earnings signaled just a pause in pain from soured loans. Eli Lilly & Co. tumbled after putting its government-sponsored antibody test on hold due to potential safety concerns, hours after Johnson & Johnson paused its covid-19 vaccine trial. Tech shares outperformed as Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Day sale kicked off. Apple Inc. unveiled its iPhone 12 line with 5G speeds, but the shares dropped, giving up part of Monday’s surge.
Prospects for U.S. fiscal stimulus before Election Day dimmed on Tuesday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., demanding the Trump administration revamp its latest offer and Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pushing a smaller-scale strategy that she quickly rejected. His proposal to vote next week on just one provision appeared to stoke opposition even from President Donald Trump, who tweeted “Go big or go home!!”
“It’s been a roller-coaster ride in terms of communication from both sides,” said Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Mutual Asset Management. “There are still going to be significant pockets of stress in the economy,” and a fiscal package could help bridge the gap until we do get a vaccine, he added.
Meanwhile, Democrats grilled U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett for hours about abortion rights, health-care law, guns and election disputes but made little progress derailing her likely Senate confirmation and a strengthened conservative majority on the court.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
– The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
– The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.5%.
– The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1%.
Currencies
– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index jumped 0.5%.
– The euro decreased 0.5% to $1.1749.
– The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 105.48 per dollar.
Bonds
– The yield on 10-year Treasurys slid four basis points to 0.73%.
– Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.56%.
– Britain’s 10-year yield decreased three basis points to 0.239%.
Commodities
– The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.3%.
– West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $40.24 a barrel.
Though the Covid-19 outbreak has affected the five-year target to create 470,000 workers, it has given the government and private sector more time to make adjustments in line with the situation post-crisis.
Nayot Kurukitkoson, acting deputy director for the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), said the key to constructing a new economic base in Thailand is to first build a strong human-resource base.
The Eastern Economic Corridor Human Development Centre (EEC-HDC) has set up alliances for developing personnel for the 11 industries based in EEC. The new training programs will have better curriculum, better teachers and better tools and teaching materials that will meet the actual needs of the industry. Short courses will also be provided to develop people who have worked in a different field, lack experience or are unemployed.
Initially, courses in 11 fields will be provided, namely robotics; tourism; logistics; marine; aviation; railways; food, modern agriculture and biotechnology; smart electronics; digital; modern vehicles; and medical industry.
The private sector will provide Bt200 million to fund the setting up of network centres in the campuses of state universities.
The first robotics and automation centre called EEC Automation Park was recently set up at Burapha University in collaboration with Mitsubishi Electric.
Collaborations like this will be beneficial, Nayot said, because the private sector will invest in the latest technology and equipment, and students will be able to make the most of it. Besides, he said, the government will not have to find funding for such ventures.
Four centres will be launched next year and another five in 2022, which should help create 40,000 to 50,000 personnel yearly.
Flaws in the latest version of the Energy Ministry’s community power plant scheme must be ironed out before it is sent to Cabinet at the end of this year, say stakeholders.
New conditions for the much-delayed project were announced on October 9 after a two-week review. The scheme is meant to boost the grassroots economy that has been hit hard by Covid-19.
However, private sector sources voiced concern at the new plan to select operators via bidding for the rights to sell electricity at a feed-in tariff (FiT) of Bt3-5.3 per unit.
Renewable-energy sector sources are worried that the current FiT rate may affect the cost of electricity.
Companies have also urged the ministry to reconsider other dimensions of the scheme, including its environmental and economic impact, if it truly wants to drive the grassroots economy by generating income for communities.
The project’s targeted total capacity of 150 megawatts aims to generate at least Bt10 billion per year for local communities through the purchase of farmers’ energy crops.
But bid-winners will have to invest an estimated Bt100-120 million per megawatt to construct the biomass power plants.
“Most private companies will not bid for the scheme since they are worried about a repeat of the [Energy Ministry’s] 300MW small power plant hybrid project that dumped the average purchase price to Bt2.44 per unit,” said one private sector source. This had resulted in power-plant projects being delayed or aborted.
The source preferred a previous proposal to select project operators via a lottery method, after screening them to verify they were genuine farmers and power plant operators with agricultural land, to ensure the power plants would actually be built.
The lottery should be promoted as a competition to create benefits for the community, rather than focusing on the selling price. Meanwhile the same company should not be entitled to operate more than 3-5 power plants, in order to diversify investment of entrepreneurs and better distribute money into the economy.
On the ownership of power plants, the source said community enterprises should hold a 10 per cent stake to ensure community participation in operating the plants and in cultivation of energy crops. Under the current plan, the community does not need to hold any stake in the projects.
The National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) will consider the draft community power plant criteria later this month after more revisions by government agencies.
Under the current draft, half of the 150MW total capacity will be generated by biomass fuel, mainly fast-growing bamboo, etc. The remaining 75MW will be generated by biogas.
Plant operators have to engage in contracts with farmers but no longer require the participation of 200-household community enterprises. As such, the current plan does not clarify how the community will receive its aimed-for 10 per cent share of revenue from the scheme, said the source.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to boost foreign investment in real estate via its Elite Card long-stay visa programme, said governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
The TAT-owned Thailand Privilege Card, which runs the programme, aims to lure more investors with two stimulus schemes it will propose to the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA).
The “Flex One” scheme will offer 5 to 20-year visas to foreigners who buy properties worth at least Bt10 million. The cards, worth Bt500,000 to Bt2 million, will be purchased by property developers and then passed on to foreign clients.
Meanwhile the “Flex Plus” scheme will offer a work permit to foreigners who invest at least US$1 million in Thailand. However, they must hold the top-tier Elite card costing a minimum Bt1 million and must invest the $1 million in the first year after visa approval.
If approved by CESA, the TAT will forward the programme to the Cabinet.
Yuthasak expects the schemes to be implemented next year, adding that they will inject about Bt20 billion in extra foreign investment if the TAT can sell 1,000 elite cards under the programme.
Thailand Privilege Card sells around 2,000 elite cards per year, he added.
Chairwoman and Group CEO Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, centre 
Kaysarin Angkanurakbun 
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn 
