Business

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on CLMV economies through their dependency on foreign-sourced revenue from tourism and exports says KResearchCenter.

While the COVID-19 crisis has caused the rate of economic growth in the CLMV bloc to be at its lowest in two decades, the CLMV economies could grow at 3.4 percent this year.

Overall, the CLMV economies will tend to undergo a speedy recovery over the next 1 to 2 years – with economic growth projected to reach 6.4 percent in 2021 and 6.5 percent in 2022.

Countries which are heavily dependent on foreign revenue are facing more negative effects during this crisis.

Cambodia is the most severely affected country

Cambodia is the most severely affected country, as it is extremely reliant on foreign income through tourism and exports. Tourism is expected to shrink by an estimated 60 percent this year. Meanwhile, in terms of exports, Cambodia remains most dependent on the …

Emergency workers usually busy attending accidents on Thailand’s roads mill around ambulances parked at a service station — fewer crashes and crimes a welcome outcome for several Asian countries during coronavirus lockdowns.

As Asia starts to assess the damage caused by the pandemic, some countries are realising there have been unforeseen benefits. 

Vietnam’s nationwide isolation has seen a drop in crime, Hong Kong has hailed an early end to its annual flu season — and now, Thailand is seeing a much-needed win in road safety. 

“Accidents have gone down quite a lot,” said Banjerd Premjit, chief of the Por Tek Tung emergency medical team operating just outside Bangkok.

In Pathum Thani province, where his team of three ambulances normally rush to about 15 grisly crashes a night, accidents have dropped by half. 

Songkran, the Thai New Year holiday, is marked annually by a jump in tra…

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world. It is a truly global threat, ignoring national borders and domestic politics.

But this pandemic highlights the need for a global response to a second key global threat: climate change. It is now more important than ever to listen to the advice of experts before it’s too late.

Despite the current global economic shutdown, the global energy transition is well underway. This transition is being driven by renewable energy technology that disrupts incumbent industry business models, much like the rise of the mobile phone and the internet.

Technology disruption is fundamentally reshaping the global energy landscape. A key impetus is the dramatic, ongoing deflation in the cost of solar energy and battery storage.

Both have seen costs drop 80 to 90 per cent over the last decade and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) expects both to halve again in the coming …

So far, 28.8 million people have already applied for the 5,000 baht/month cash subsidies, under the “Rao Mai Thing Kan” (We Do Not Leave You Behind) scheme.

But only 13.4 million have passed the qualification screening, leaving thousands queuing in lengthy lines as they wait to file complaints.

Of those eligible, 11 million have had the subsidy wired into their bank accounts already, with the remaining 2.4 million to receive their first payment next week, according to Mr. Lawan Saengsanit, spokesman for the Finance Ministry.

In 2018, there were about 21.2 million informal and 17.1 million formal workers. Besides agriculture, with a 92% informality rate, jobs in commerce have the second highest rate of informality at 60%, according to the World Bank.

Cash subsidy to 10 million registered farmers

Starting today, another government’s financial aid of 5,000 baht per farm household for three months, will be distributed through the B…

BANGKOK (NNT) – The Bank of Thailand (BOT) yesterday accepted requests from financial institutions to offer soft loans to SMEs to improve fluidity and preserve jobs.

Eight commercial banks yesterday filed requests to offer a total of 24.2 billion baht in loans to some 17,000 clients.

Bank of Thailand’s Deputy Governor on Financial Institutions Stability, Ronadol Numnonda said today that banks that have filed for the highest amount in soft loans are Bangkok Bank (BBL), Krungthai Bank (KTB), and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).

Soft loans sourced by the BOT will be distributed mostly to individual SMEs, the credit lines of which don’t exceed 20 million baht, accounting for 76 percent of all clients.

Some 80 percent of these businesses are located outside Bangkok, while almost half of them are wholesalers and retailers.

Financial institutions have previously offered assistance packages to…

Thailand is set to lose duty-free access for $1.3 billion in exports to the U.S. market today, six months after Washington warned it would pull back on trade privileges unless the country committed to more labor rights reforms.

Analysts expect the new duties to do little damage directly, however.  

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Oct. 25 Thailand had “yet to take steps to provide internationally recognized worker rights in a number of important areas,” six years after U.S. unions raised the issue. It said the U.S. would restore duties on just under one-third of the $4.4 billion worth of Thai imports eligible for duty-free treatment under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences after six months.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok told VOA last week the cuts to Thailand’s trade privileges would go ahead as planned.

Rights groups have long accused Thailand of profiting off rampant human trafficking and d…

Covid-19 crisis could be worse than the Global Financial Crisis, and Asia is not immune, says the IMF. While there is huge uncertainty about 2020 growth prospects, and even more so about the 2021 outlook, the impact of the coronavirus on the region will—across the board—be severe and unprecedented.

Unlike the US and other major economies, emerging and developing Asia is likely to be the only region with a positive growth rate in 2020, averaging at 1 per cent.

But according to IMF latest projection, Thailand could stand as the worst performer among its Asean peers with a staggering drop of 6.7 % of its GDP. Singapore would be the second worst performer with a -3.5% GDP forecast for 2020.

Shutdowns from the pandemic could trigger a tsunami of job losses in Thailand especially for employees who don’t have a regular salary, low-paid workers and people without a written contract.

The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and…

The Board of Investment of Thailand (BOI) today approved a series of measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak on business, including steps to encourage rapid investment in the manufacturing of medical equipment.

The board also approved incentives to promote technology-based “smart farming” solutions as well as research and development in a broader range of sectors.

“In face of the unprecedented situation resulting from the virus outbreak, we have taken a range of measures to address the urgent needs of affected business sectors,” Ms Duangjai Asawachintachit, Secretary General of the BOI, said at a press briefing after a board meeting chaired by Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-ocha in Bangkok.

“The measures for the medical sector aim to enable a rapid response to the situation, while paving the way for longer-term development.”

Ms Duangjai Asawachintachit, Secretary General of the BOI

To address the inc…

The Bank of Thailand and the Center for International Trade Studies at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) forecast exports to contract by 7-8 percent this year. 

The Center for International Trade Studies at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said that under the worst-case scenario in which the coronavirus crisis exceeds nine months (beyond September), exports could contract by as much as 7.1% in 2020.

Thailand’s export value contracted by 2.7 percent to 246.25 billion USD in 2019 but the COVID-19 pandemic could remove 17.42 billion USD from Thai export value this year, showing the sector’s worst performance in a decade. 

However, if the crisis is contained in September, the downturn could be limited to -3.7%.

The Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO) has indicated that the gross value of Thai exports in 2019 was 246.244 billion U.S. dollars, showing a 2.65 percent decline from the previous …

Moody’s has changed the outlook for Thailand’s banking system to negative from positive. The operating environment for the country’s banks will deteriorate in the next 12-18 months due to disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak, and this will lead to a weakening of banks’ asset quality and profitability.

Yet banks’ strong capital and liquidity, as well as government support to the broader economy, will provide a buffer against growing risks.

Operating environment will deteriorate. The Thai economy will contract in 2020, hit by unprecedented disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The spread of the coronavirus globally is resulting in simultaneous supply and demand shocks, and global economic conditions continue to deteriorate as the outbreak intensifies. Thailand’s exports will contract from 2019 due to weaker global demand and disruptions to supply chains worldwide. Private consumption will weaken due to a decline in the number of tour…