Legislature to fast track retail bill in govt's term

Legislature to fast track retail bill in govt's term
The Nation (20 October 2007)

To ensure that the long-awaited Retail Business Act is enacted by this interim government, lawmakers plan to complete vetting the bill by the end of January.

"The [scrutiny] committee will accelerate its consideration of the act within a few months. This is to make sure that the act will be implemented in the current term to regulate the retail industry, which is torn by conflicts between small and giant retailers," Jit Siratranont, a member of the National Legislative Assembly, said yesterday.

The draft bill won Cabinet approval on Tuesday and will be tabled with the NLA early next month.

After a meeting with the Commerce Ministry, which is seeking to encourage the act's implementation, Jit said the NLA representatives now supported the government-sponsored draft, which would create a level playing field for all retailers.

Despite disagreement from some giant retail operators, the act offers advantages for both small and giant retailers, he said.

For example, existing giant retailers could continue to operate, but they would have to comply with new regulations, such as those on operating hours, in order to make room for small players.

Amid fears that large retailers will keep building during the wait for the act, a ministry source said that they could not control or order a suspension of branch expansion.

Retail giants would still have the right to construct new outlets but the stores might not be allowed to open once the law has been implemented because the new legislation will allow operations only for retail businesses existing at a certain date..

If any retailers want to open new units, they must conform to the new conditions, which the central retailing committee to be formed by the act will issue as ministry regulations.

The restrictions and requirements include operating hours, distances between shops and their sizes in each community and the ability to provide "trade facilitators" for consumers.

Korsak Chairasmisak, chief executive officer of CP 7-Eleven, said it was too soon

to comment on the draft but the new law should foster

harmony between mom-and-pop shops and the modern trade.

It must definitely not hurt consumers, who deserve access to the best products and services, he said.

"If consumers still want 7-Eleven, I believe that the new draft will not bridle our expansion," he said.

Thai minister sees 2008 GDP growth of over 5%

Thai minister sees 2008 GDP growth of over 5%
The Business Times (20 October 2007)

(BANGKOK) Thai Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said that the country's economy would pick up next year after the government increased spending, while foreign investment has recovered.

The expansion may 'easily' exceed 5 per cent in 2008, up from an estimated 4.5 per cent this year, he said in an interview on Saturday in Washington.

Growth 'certainly will pick up because of these investment projects, whether on the public-sector side or the foreign-investor side, that will be kicking in', Mr Chalongphob said.

Thailand, which has depended on exports since a September 2006 coup eroded domestic confidence and demand, has lifted public spending and lured back international investors to shore up growth. Mr Chalongphob anticipates that that would help compensate for a global slowdown.

'Over time, maybe the pace of export growth may slow down a little bit, particularly with the problems in the sub-prime market, which may affect the US economy,' Mr Chalongphob said.

'So we already put in place the additional engines that will help to push the economy along if exports begin to decline, and this is through investment.'

Thailand's cabinet agreed on Oct 16 to spend 59 billion baht (S$2.7 billion) to build a railway line in Bangkok, the third mass-transit project approved by the government for the capital. Ford Motor Co and its Japanese affiliate Mazda Motor said on Oct 9 that they would spend more than US$500 million to set up a plant in Thailand. -- Bloomberg