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Stocks rise in volatile trading; oil snaps slide

Econ

Jun 26. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Claire Ballentine, Amena Saad · BUSINESS

U.S. stocks climbed the most in more than a week as investors weighed the prospects for additional stimulus against the spike in American virus cases. Crude oil snapped a two-day slide and the dollar strengthened.

The S&P 500 jumped in the last hour of trading after fluctuating for most of the session to finish up 1.1%. The index is clinging to a monthly gain after one of the highest-ever increases in U.S. cases prompted Texas and Florida to halt the next phases of the reopening of their economies. Banks surging 2.7% after regulators eased rules that will free up capital. Investors also grappled with a mixed batch of economic data, after initial jobless claims topped estimates at almost 1.5 million.

“The market is trying to digest what the timeline is, and also measuring monetary stimulus and future fiscal stimulus as well,” said Chad Morganlander, senior money manager at Washington Crossing Advisors. “There are a lot of unknowns but yet, we have to believe that the monetary backdrop as well as fiscal backdrop will support the market, so we’re a little bit more optimistic over the next 18-24 months.”

In Europe, stocks swung from a loss to close higher, with Deutsche Lufthansa AG rallying as its biggest shareholder backed a government rescue package. Shares in German fintech Wirecard AG collapsed after it filed for insolvency. Core European bonds gained.

Worries over lockdowns being reimposed and economies reopening more slowly has hurt sentiment, as investors weigh reports of new daily records for infections. Meanwhile, health leaders called on the U.K. to prepare for a possible second wave, and Australia recorded its largest spike in cases since April.

“The market really got the shivers over the prospect of a big increase in covid and maybe starting to see places that were opening up have to close up,” Margie Patel, portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Asset Management, said on Bloomberg TV. “We’ve had such a great run from the end of March it’s only inevitable that we should get at least a little step back.”

Elsewhere, stocks in Asia fell the most in almost two weeks. China and Hong Kong were shut for holidays. West Texas crude oil rose, while gold reversed an earlier gain.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&P 500 Index advanced 1.1% to 3,083.76 as of 4:04 p.m. EDT, the largest gain in more than a week.

The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 1.2% to 25,745.60, the biggest gain in more than a week.

The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.1% to 10,017.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.1% to 1,218.48.

The euro decreased 0.2% to $1.1226.

The Japanese yen depreciated 0.1% to 107.12 per dollar, the weakest in more than a week.

Bonds

The yield on two-year Treasurys fell less than one basis point to 0.18%, the lowest in two weeks.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys gained less than one basis point to 0.68%.

Britain’s 10-year yield decreased four basis points to 0.154%, the lowest on record.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 2.7% to $39.05 a barrel, the biggest gain in more than a week.

Gold strengthened 0.2% to $1,763.65 an ounce.

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Somkid comes up with new policy to ‘energise’ Thai economy

Econ

Jun 26. 2020Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak called on state enterprises to make smart investments that make money and can help the economy.

By The Nation

At a meeting held to discuss economic stimulus measures with the Energy Ministry, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak came up with an “energy to create Thailand” policy for state enterprises such as PTT and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to follow.

Somkid said that since there is a global slowdown due to Covid-19, PTT should adjust its approach and accelerate investment this year and the next, as well as make sure it does not miss the target. PTT should also find new sources to boost employment through options like connecting agriculture and tourism.

Meanwhile, he said, Egat is a strong organisation and has made sacrifices this year by reducing the cost of power. However, Somkid said, Egat needs to come up with ways of looking after the unemployed and further reducing the cost of electricity, natural gas, NGV and LPG. He also said that the Energy Ministry should work with the Transport Ministry to make public buses cheaper.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Sonti Sontijirawong said his plans focus on reducing the cost of living and creating revenue for people amid the Covid-19 fallout.

Energy Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong has come up with a plan to boost grassroots economy as well as create new jobs.

The ministry has divided its stimulus measures as follows:

• Spending more than Bt40.5 billion to ease people’s burden by reducing household electricity bills, keep household gas (LPG) affordable until September (extending this subsidy to December is being considered) and providing NGV support for public vehicles until the end of July among others.

• Expediting the investment of more than Bt200 billion this year to create more than 10,000 jobs. The ministry will also launch a new round of exploration and production this year, as well as invest in modernising the grid to help Thailand become an LNG hub and study the possibility of connecting the grid to neighbouring countries.

• Spending more than Bt30 billion to stimulate the economy in post-Covid era by generating revenue for companies and creating more than 8,000 jobs. Egat will stimulate trade through online markets, communities, power plants and trips to dams and reservoirs nationwide. PTT, meanwhile, will create a Living Community Marketplace, promote domestic travel by launching a “Blue Card” and stimulate the economy through funds to promote energy conservation. There are also plans to expand power transmission lines to divert the river to the Bhumibol Dam, which should also help ease drought conditions.

Sonthirat said his ministry is planning to invest in a 700-megawatt community-based project to boost grassroots economy and expects a Cabinet approval on June 30. The ministry will then open bid for a “Quick Win” programme for 100MW from July 1, announce winners by mid-August, and start construction at the beginning of next year.

As for the 600MW general community-based power plant, it should be open for registration between October and December. This power plant is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs.

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Predictions of slow recovery make Thai stocks unattractive to local investors

Econ

Jun 26. 2020Samy Chaar, chief economist at Lombard Odier & CIE SA, says the bank prefers not to invest in emerging markets, especially in bank shares, energy or business sectors of the old economy.

By The Nation

Foreign equities are becoming more attractive to Thai investors because the Thai economy is unlikely to recover from the Covid-19 crisis any time soon, according to the Kasikornbank Private Banking Group.

Jirawat Supornpaibul, chief of the Kasikornbank Private Banking Group, said on Thursday (June 25) that the economy may start to pick up as the government relaxes lockdown restrictions, but it will take a long time before it fully recovers or returns to where it was in the pre-Covid-19 period. 

Against this backdrop, KBank Private Banking has been diversifying its investment overseas. On shore investments do not look bright due to limited options, which is why the group is shifting investments abroad, he said at a webinar on “Tracking the Recovery and the World after Covid-19”. 

He predicted that the Stock Exchange of Thailand index may rise about 5 to 10 per cent from the current level, but it will be subject to high volatility. Since the economy will recover slowly, the annual returns for Thai equity investment will be between 3 and 4 per cent or a little higher, he said, while returns from bank deposits will be even lower. 

Siriporn Suwannagarn, financial advisory head for the group, said as Covid-19 subsides, the group has cash in hand for about 5 to 11 per cent of its total portfolio and has started using it to invest in global equities and investment funds in both Asia and Europe. The group has also been investing in property funds and gold for use as hedging instruments against risks. 

Meanwhile, Samy Chaar, chief economist at Swiss Private Bank Lombard Odier & CIE SA, said global recovery will look like the Nike swoosh – initial recovery being V-shaped during the reopening of cities before the rate decelerates. He also said that it will take two to three years before the economy can return to pre-Covid levels. Inflation, meanwhile, will be low, interest rates may fall into the negative territory, and the gap between the rich and poor will become wider.

If there is a second wave of infections, then the economy will be in an L-shaped slump for a long time, he warned. 

Risks could also come from trade tensions between China and the US. Also, if many countries bring their fiscal and monetary expansions to an end too soon, then the global economy will go into recession, he said. 

With slow recovery, Lombard Odier reckons that equities and debentures will be more attractive than bank deposits and short-term debt instruments, he said.

Equities must be related to technology, especially digital industry, senior citizens and environment to name a few. 

He also advised investment in gold and government bonds until the end of the year as an insurance against market volatility. 

‘We like equities in US and Asia, especially growth stock associating with new technology, we do not like emerging market’s stocks in particularly bank shares, energy or business sectors in the old economy. We are also interested in debentures and government bonds due to increasing yields,” he said. 

For currencies, he said the Japanese yen was attractive, while US dollar may become weaker as US rates may no longer rise.

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Recovery looks to be ebbing in states with virus outbreaks

Econ

Jun 26. 2020A person rides a bicycle along a nearly empty Houston Street Viaduct in Dallas, Texas, on April 15, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Rebecca Smeyne.

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Rich Miller · NATIONAL, BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS 
The U.S. economic recovery is showing incipient signs of weakening in some states where coronavirus cases are mounting.

The ebbing is evident in such high-frequency data as OpenTable restaurant reservations and follows a big bounce in activity as businesses reopened from lockdowns meant to check the spread of Covid-19.

“We’re now starting to see very early evidence that things are leveling off” in some of the states that reopened first and are now suffering rising virus cases, said Michelle Meyer, head of U.S. economics at Bank of America.

The result, she said, is likely to be an uneven recovery, even as gross domestic product rapidly rebounds next quarter from what will probably be the steepest nosedive since the Great Depression. “It’s going to be fits and starts,” she said. “It’s not going to be a smooth path.”

Jobs data on Thursday reflected that. Applications for unemployment benefits were higher than forecast for a second week, clocking in at 1.48 million after an upwardly revised 1.54 million in the prior period. The median forecast called for 1.32 million. Continuing claims, however, declined more than estimated — to 19.5 million in the week ended June 13.

“The stickiness that we see in claims is a reason to be concerned,” Meyer said even before the latest report. “It tells you there’s still some firing going on” even as the economy reopens.

Among America’s most-populous states, Texas, Florida and California are experiencing a surge in coronavirus outbreaks even while others, including New York, see declines. Overall, counties accounting for between one-third and one-half of U.S. GDP are suffering from worsening trends in new cases or Covid-19-related deaths, according to research by Deutsche Bank economists.

The S&P 500 Index slumped 2.6% and Treasury yields fell on Wednesday as investors grew anxious about the economy’s prospects.

“We’re playing mediocre Whac-A-Mole” in controlling the disease, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said.

He told the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday that 30% of the economy will need to be shut back down — either by government decree or by people and companies acting on their own — to prevent the pandemic from getting out of control.

The fading economic momentum already evident in states with more virus cases is occurring even though the authorities there have not re-imposed shutdowns, though they may eventually do so. Instead, the shift appears to reflect increased caution by consumers and businesses in the face of the contagion.

“The public is not psychologically immune to Covid-19 and will retrench if the virus starts spreading again, regardless of government restrictions (or lack thereof),” Jefferies economists Aneta Markowska and Thomas Simons wrote Wednesday in a note to clients.

That’s particularly the case for older Americans, who are in greater danger of dying from the virus if they contract it.

“The baby boomers account for something like 30% to 35% of consumer spending in this country,” Peter Hooper, global head of economic research for Deutsche Bank, said Wednesday on Bloomberg Television. “If this virus continues to get worse, consumer spending is not going anywhere down the road.”

This, in turn, would create “real problems” for many U.S. businesses with low profit margins because they would still have to operate well below capacity due to limited consumer demand, according to JPMorgan Chase Chief U.S. Economist Michael Feroli.

Recurring coronavirus outbreaks could mean restrained economic expansion and elevated unemployment for years, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans.

“My forecast assumes growth is held back by the response to intermittent localized outbreaks — which might be made worse by the faster-than-expected reopenings,” Evans said Wednesday in remarks at a virtual event.

What seems to have happened, some economists say, is that a number of states restarted their economies prematurely, paying little heed to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That led to the earlier and stronger recovery in economic activity seen in recent national statistics. But it also raised the risk of a relapse in parts of the country as the virus flares anew.

“The bounce-back in the economy has happened,” said Summers, a Bloomberg contributor and professor at Harvard University. “We’re not going to see a lot more bouncing back until we get a vaccine.”

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Fed carries funding markets over quarter with rocky path ahead

Econ

Jun 25. 2020The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington on Aug. 13, 2019. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Andrew Harrer.

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Emily Barrett · BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS 

U.S. funding markets are approaching quarter-end on a remarkably sure footing, given the Treasury is still borrowing in near-record amounts, its cash pile has barely ever been larger, and the pandemic appears to be seeing a resurgence.

Even as Libor jumped the most in three months Thursday, indicators of stress in this crucial corner of financial markets — such as the spread between three-month Libor and the risk-free rate — are hovering where they were before the March upheaval. In secured funding markets, the benchmark repurchase rate remains in check, and the Federal Reserve’s overnight liquidity facilities have hardly been touched this week.

That all adds up to a big win for the Fed, though maybe not exactly mission accomplished. It’s a testament to officials’ swift and aggressive actions over the past three months that this key market is calm at what would typically be a volatile time, with banks wrapping up their books at mid-year.

The threat of a relapse heading into the second half of 2020 is reduced with ample cash in the system. The biggest risk to this hard-won equilibrium is if demand is unable to keep up with the Treasury’s borrowing needs, with more government stimulus potentially on the way.

“The really big unknown right now is that we’re at this fork in the road as far as stimulus goes,” said Blake Gwinn, a rates strategist at NatWest. “That will have a massive impact on bill supply and funding needs.”

There are signs that buyers might be starting to drift out of the safety of bills, even as supply may need to ramp up again. In particular, strategists have been eyeing outflows from government money-market funds.

While the Treasury’s cash hoard, at a near-record $1.61 trillion, has allowed it to trim bill supply, Gwinn doesn’t see major cuts on the way. Spending needs may surge again soon enough, as the administration is reportedly considering a $1 trillion infrastructure package.

There were concerns in recent weeks that the Treasury’s cash stockpile could complicate matters for the Fed at quarter-end, because of the potential for increased volatility in reserves at a time when short-term funding needs are typically more acute.

That hasn’t turned out to be the case. For one thing, the Treasury’s cash pile has dropped from last week’s historic level. Also, unlike September, when large flows tied to corporate tax payments and Treasury auction settlements crashed a system that was running close to scarcity, reserves are now abundant. That’s thanks to asset purchases and a plethora of liquidity facilities that have expanded the Fed’s balance sheet beyond $7 trillion.

“When the Fed started blowing out its balance sheet, reserves really ceased to matter,” Gwinn said. “We’re so far past that, we’re so far into reserve abundance.”

Stress indicators in the U.S. are muted so far. Three-month Libor did fix higher Thursday, in the biggest increase since March, but it’s coming off a five-year low and returning to last week’s level. The spread to overnight index swaps, the risk-free rate, rose only a fraction.

To Jon Hill, U.S. rates strategist at BMO Capital Markets, that suggests upward pressure on the benchmark “will not be durable absent a sharp correction in risk assets.”

As for secured funding markets, “heading into quarter-end, additional repo pressure could mount, but their spillover into other areas of funding markets is unlikely,” according to a report from Steven Zeng and Craig Nicol, strategists at Deutsche Bank.

The markets are “functioning well without any major dislocations” in Treasury, mortgage-backed and municipal bond markets, they said in a report dated June 18. Treasuries are maintaining a stable spread to swaps across different maturities, “suggesting stable investor demand despite increased issuance.”

Though that spread measure has jumped around somewhat in the past week, the gap between three-month T-bills and the overnight index swaps rate is still below its peak this month, and well short of the stresses seen in March and April.

Overseas, some stresses remain. The European Central Bank announced plans for a precautionary facility to provide euros to central banks outside the currency area to help ease any liquidity crunches that remain in the wake of the pandemic. And liquidity in foreign-exchange markets is still below norms, according to Guy Debelle, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia and head of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee.

NatWest’s Gwinn says that even if the course of the pandemic takes a more critical turn, exerting renewed pressure on the economy, the financial system is far better placed now to handle the risks.

“There’s a fuller understanding now of the Fed’s tolerance for funding rates to widen out,” he said. “When we went into this in March nobody had any clue that the Fed would act as quickly and as strongly as they did — now we know what their playbook is.”

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Another 1.48 million workers are newly unemployed

Econ

Jun 25. 2020A person sits at a bus stop next to closed businesses in the New York borough of Brooklyn on June 17, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by David Dee Delgado.

By The Washington Post · Eli Rosenberg · NATIONAL, BUSINESS, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS 
Another 1.48 million people applied for unemployment for the first time last week, a slight decrease from the week before and the 14th straight week that more than one million people have filed for unemployment.

Workers continue to file for jobless claims at record numbers, due to the economic shutdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus. By contrast, in February the weekly claims were roughly 200,000 a week. The previous record was 695,000 jobless claims in 1982.

Another 730,000 people applied for the supplemental pandemic unemployment assistance program created by Congress for self-employed and gig workers for the first time last week, bringing the total number of first-time claims to 2.2 million.

The numbers were higher than analysts’ predictions, adding to a raft of bad news as the country struggles to rebound from the economic and public health crises from the coronavirus.

“It is just deeply disturbing,” said Heidi Shierholz, chief economist at the Department of Labor during the Obama administration. “I do think that people are getting hired back, but we are continuing to see an absolute hemorrhaging of jobs. Just record levels of people.”

The total number of people claiming unemployment last week shrank to 19.5 million, a drop of more than 750,000 from the week before. When including benefits for gig workers, 30.5 million people claimed unemployment insurance of some type last week. 

There are signs that some states are still dealing with the backlogs that plagued unemployment systems early in the crisis – making the numbers an imperfect snapshot of the current picture.

In Wisconsin, state officials have warned a backlog of unemployment claims could last until October. Kentucky’s state capitol has been flooded with laid off workers who said they had not been paid since the beginning of the pandemic.

The initial weekly unemployment claims have steadily declined from a weekly peak of 6.9 million at the end of March, which gave some economists hope that the worst of the pandemic’s toll on the economy was over. But rising coronavirus cases in many parts of the country have begun to raise fears of continued shutdowns. 

There are concerns about more issues when the supplemental $600 unemployment bonus runs out at the end of July. While some lawmakers have expressed concerns that the payments pose an incentive for some to remain unemployed, a study released looking at data from 2013 to 2019 this month by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago showed the opposite: That those collecting jobless benefits search for jobs more than twice as intensely as those who have exhausted their benefits.

Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, likened the situation to a classic war film, “Tora, Tora, Tora,” which depicts a Navy captain refusing to act in defense of Pearl Harbor until he received confirmation of an attack was coming from, as ships exploded around him.

“I think that’s a pretty good allegory for where we’re at right now,” he said. “We have 30 million people on unemployment insurance, yet major decision-makers are asking for more confirmation that more aid is necessary. It’s sitting out in plain site – they just don’t want to look at it.”

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Policy measures may ease Covid-19 effects, but not offset recession: Moody’s

Econ

Jun 25. 2020

By THE NATION

The latest report from Moody’s Investors Service says that policy measures taken by the Asean-5 economies – Malaysia (A3 stable), the Philippines (Baa2 stable), Indonesia (Baa2 stable), Vietnam (Ba3 negative) and Thailand (Baa1 stable) – may reduce some of the negative effects of the Covid-19 outbreak, but will not offset the rising recession or credit risks for most sectors.

“The various policy measures will mitigate credit-negative pressure on companies, banks and the broader economy, but weakness in trade, commodity prices and general sentiment will weigh on growth for all five economies,” said Deborah Tan, a Moody’s assistant vice president.

The five economies are highly integrated in regional manufacturing supply chains and are experiencing sharp declines in external trade flows, while ongoing travel restrictions are weighing on tourism-related revenue and export earnings.

At the same time, sluggish commodity prices are pressuring fiscal revenues for commodity exporters.

Financial market volatility triggered capital outflows in March and April, although lower dependence on foreign-currency denominated debt for most governments will to some extent shield them from currency depreciation risk

“Fiscal costs of the support measures will be significant, with debt burdens only stabilising from 2021 for most economies, although the Asean-5 countries had adequate buffers prior to the pandemic that provide them with the fiscal space to respond to the crisis,” Tan added.

Policy measures for the financial sector have mostly focused on providing liquidity to banks to support new lending and through credit restructuring such as debt moratoriums. As moratoriums are lifted, banks’ problem loans will likely increase.

Few corporate sectors will benefit directly from government support, with strategically important state-owned enterprises likely to take priority in receiving direct financial support. Still, privately owned companies will receive some support from broader policy measures such as temporary tax relief and lower interest rates.

The infrastructure sector will also get limited support, as with the exception of Indonesia, few countries in the region have taken steps to support these companies. Governments have also shifted some of the burden related to policy support to utilities and other infrastructure providers. Nevertheless, the essential nature of these companies’ services may help shore up demand for some.

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Second Covid wave, US import tariffs pull down SET

Econ

Jun 25. 2020

By The Nation

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index dropped 7.55 points or 0.57 per cent today (June 25), closing at 1,325.88, while total transactions were worth Bt60.823 billion with an index high of 1,325.88 and a low of 1,306.67.

During the morning session, a Krungsri Securities stock analyst said he expected the index to fall between 1,310 and 1,320 points due to several negative sentiments.

“Investors are not just concerned about a second wave of Covid-19 infections, as the number of new cases in the US is still rising, which may force the country to issue lockdown measures again. They are also worried about Washington’s threat to impose tariff on goods worth $3.1 billion imported from Britain, France, Spain and Germany,” he said.

The analyst also added that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had brought its prediction for global gross domestic product down from a 3 per cent contraction to 4.9 per cent.

“Plus the price of crude oil dropped sharply by more than 5 per cent because United States’ stored crude oil increased, prompting uncertainty following a drop in demand if a second wave of Covid-19 emerges,” the analyst said.

The top 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were CPALL, KBANK, AOT, PTT, MINT, BAM, SCB, ADVANC, PTTEP, and KCE.

As of 4.30pm, the price of crude oil remained unchanged at $38.01 per barrel, while gold dropped by $1.40 or 0.08 per cent, to $1,773.70 per ounce.

Changes in Asian indices were as follows:

Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 22,259.79, down 274.53 points, or 1.22 per cent.

South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,112.37, down 49.14 points, or 2.27 per cent.

Stock markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were closed due to the Dragon Boat festival.

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Deadline to apply for central bank governor’s job extended

Econ

Jun 25. 2020

By THE NATION

The committee in charge of selecting the governor of the Bank of Thailand on Thursday (June 25) resolved to extend the date for receiving applications for the top job to July 10 from the previous June 16, selection committee chairman Rangsan Sriworasart said.

He added that the committee wanted to give more time for potential candidates to apply. The extension will also give a chance to potential applicants, who were hampered because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He added that looking at more applicants would be in the interest of the country.

Currently there are four candidates in contention, of whom two are the central bank veterans.

Current BOT Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob completes his five-year term in September.

The committee will consider the qualifications of all candidates on July 17 and allow them to present their vision on July 21. Two names will eventually be sent to the Finance Minister to pick one of them as BOT governor.

Rangsan added that he expected more applications due to the extension of deadline, but added that there would be no further extension after July 10.

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ADB Ventures funds LocalFarm app to help tourism sector endure downturn

Econ

Jun 25. 2020LocalFarm will help farmers who had relied on tourism for their income to market seasonal fruit and vegetables directly to consumers, says ADB.

By The Nation

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s impact investment platform, ADB Ventures, teamed up with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to support the creation of LocalFarm, an online application that will help mitigate the impact Covid-19 has had on Thailand’s tourism sector.

LocalFarm will help farmers who had relied on tourism for their income to market seasonal fruit and vegetables directly to consumers. The app features agricultural produce from more than 50 sellers across Thailand. The creator, TakeMeTour, does not charge any fees or commissions from sellers. 

“We are thrilled to launch LocalFarm, which will give our local guides and farmers the opportunity to earn and to connect with new customers,” TakeMeTour’s co-founder Taro Amornched said. “It ialso opens a great opportunity for farmers once tourism is revived. We’re looking forward to working with ADB Ventures and TAT to scale this platform across the country.

“In this unprecedented crisis, it is impressive to see how quickly and efficiently TakeMeTour has developed an innovative platform to help frontline tourism workers earn via alternative income streams,” ADB Venture’s senior investment specialist Dominic Mellor said.  

TakeMeTour is an online marketplace that for the past five years has been matching tourists with independent local guides. It developed LocalFarm after learning that Thai local guides, many of whom operate farms and gardens, will lose income during the pandemic. 

ADB Ventures provides venture capital and technical assistance to highly-scalable technology businesses in Asia and the Pacific, supporting their expansion into emerging markets and helping countries achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Investors in ADB Ventures include Finland’s Foreign Ministry, the Clean Technology Fund, the Nordic Development Fund and South Korea’s Economy and Finance Ministry. 

ADB and TAT have supported TakeMeTour since 2017, and now it has become the Greater Mekong subregion’s largest peer-to-peer tourism platform, featuring tours and activities hosted by more than 25,000 local experts, more than 60 per cent of whom are women. 

ADB Ventures gave TakeMeTour US$150,000 (Bt4.6 million) in seed grant funding for the development of LocalFarm as well as regional market validation. ADB Ventures seed grants are reimbursable and give ADB Ventures the option to make future equity investments. 

Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members — 49 from the region