Oct.

28-30

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Dear Members,

 
Well the Rugby World Cup is off to a great start and there has already been one upset and a couple of near misses. I watched the Australia/Ireland match in Tenderloins with a very vocal crowd of Irish fans. I got some very dark looks towards the end when I suggested the Wallabies only needed one converted try and a penalty to win. The All Blacks are off to a good start but have probably their biggest challenge this weekend against France who are always unpredictable and are our proverbial Achilles heal.

I am sure you are all aware by now of the sad passing of Khun Dusit Nontanakorn. As Chairman of the Board of Trade and the Thai Chamber of Commerce he worked hard to bring Thai and foreign businesses closer together. He was not afraid to speak his mind no matter who you were. His drive to stamp out corruption was one legacy he has left behind and I’m pleased that the Board of Trade confirmed that they will be continuing his good work. His energy, drive and leadership will be sorely missed by both the Thai and foreign business communities. Our condolences go to his wife and two daughters.
 
It just goes to show that you should never speak too soon. In last months newsletter I gave you the good news that the NTC had shelved ideas to gazette their proposed Foreign Dominance regulations and less than a week later they quietly did the opposite. Why is this important to us since most of us (all) are not operators of telecommunications networks? This regulation could be used as precedence for other industry sectors and could signal an alarming trend. Secondly it is likely to reduce the effectiveness of telecommunications development in Thailand. This impacts us all since connectivity is becoming increasingly important to our businesses to the point where many of us can’t function without it.

Two of the most important functions of a Chamber of Commerce are to provide a conduit for information between its members and government agencies and the advocacy role; to raise issues affecting its members with relevant government agencies. It is our view that the interests of the foreign business community, and more specifically our members, are best served by working together to engage the government on common issues. This will always be more effective and have greater strength than any individual Chamber no matter how large and well connected they might be. I think it is clear that there are some problems within the Joint Foreign Chambers right now but we believe it is better to actively support efforts to resolve those problems than to walk away. This is an important matter and we value any views you might have.

We are back to our familiar home at the Sheraton for this month’s Corporate Knight on 29th September. We have invited all Chambers that have teams in the Rugby World Cup (plus a few that haven’t) to come and join us. Many thanks to Warwick Kneale and the team from Baker Tilley Thailand for kindly sponsoring this event. Baker Tilly has been a long standing supporter of the Chamber and we really appreciate that.

We look forward to seeing you all at the Sheraton Grande on the 29th and hope to see you on Saturday at Tenderloins for the All Black/France game.

Kind regards,

Sponsored By

   

Some recent Kiwi Snippets and Kiwis in the news:

A couple of guys who have :shaken" free from Christchurch have opened  Snapper New Zealand in Sukhumvit Soi 11, in the sub soi past Cheap Charlies. So if you would like some very well prepared  NZ Terakihi or green lipped mussels with a scoop of chips given them a try 

Wasn't just the rugby they lost.

New Zealand Winegrowers injected some old fashioned rivalry in 'The Great Trans-Tasman Red Wine Challenge' on the  Friday before Australia's biggest pool game against Ireland in Auckland. New Zealand and Australia resumed their trans-Tasman rivalry as the two sides met head-to-head in the wine equivalent of the Bledisloe Cup.

Each nation was represented by fifteen wines; eight forwards (Syrah/Shiraz) and seven backs (Pinot Noir) selected by team captains. Teams consisted of four judges and were headed up by a well-known wine personality from each nation. 

The pre-match warm up was well contested, but New Zealand wines rose to the occasion and dominated the tasting with five out of the seven top backs (Pinot Noir) and four of the eight top forwards (Syrah/Shiraz) crowning New Zealand wine as King of the Reds!

Excessive deodorant sparks fire callout  

The alarmingly strong need for Southland Boys' High students to smell good prompted a callout from the Fire Service yesterday and according to authorities it is not the first time.
Three fire appliances, including two from Invercargill and one from Kingswell, were called out to the Boys' High hostel about 9.15am after excessive deodorant spray set off the smoke alarm.
Invercargill station officer Colin Russell said the Fire Service had been called out for the same reason several times in the past few years and occurred when deodorant particles became so thick around smoke detectors it was recognised as smoke.
"They [the boys] get carried away with the deodorant ... I imagine it would get quite whiffy in there at times," he said.

Rugby World Cup Smartphone App Launched

Rugby World Cup fans visiting Hamilton can have important event and city information at their fingertips through a free smartphone app available from today.
A Rugby World Cup 2011 ‘plug-in’, specifically for use during the Tournament, has been added to the existing Hamilton NZ app, and has been adapted to enable its use on all types of smartphones.
Described as ‘your essential guide to Rugby World Cup and Hamilton’, the app features transport and road closure information, profiles of the five teams to play at Waikato Stadium, a Hamilton map, and details about other attractions, events and city services on offer.

 

NEW ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING MINISTERIAL REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTED

(Our Thanks to Bangkok Bank for this article, full description can be found HERE)

From August 25, 2011, all commercial banks are required by the Ministerial Regulations issued by virtue of the Anti-Money Laundering Act to identify and verify, and maintain copies of, the identities
of customers, and to report certain types of transactions as required by law.

In some cases, banks will be required to request additional information from the person conducting  the transaction, including the identity of the beneficiary. Examples of common transactions where additional information may be required are as follows:

A transfer conducted at a branch counter where a walk-in customer sends cash to an account at another bank, and the amount is 50,000 Baht or more for ORFT or BAHTNET (see the table below for more information), the bank is required to verify the customer’s identification for each transaction by requesting a copy of the customer’s ID or passport. If the amount is 100,000 Baht or more, the beneficiary’s ID number will also be required. Please note that if the customer refuses to provide the requested information, the bank will be unable to proceed with the transaction for the customer. 

Banks’ reporting obligation in relation to transactions are as follows:

• Any cash transaction worth two million baht or more is required to be reported to AMLO.
• Transactions that are electronic fund transfers or electronic payments involving cash worth one hundred thousand baht or more are subject to AMLO’s reporting requirements.

• Transactions involving an asset worth five million baht or more are subject to AMLO’s reporting requirements.
• Transactions that are money transfers or electronic payments involving a movable asset worth seven hundred thousand baht or more are required to be reported to AMLO.

New Zealand business managers have wound back their expectations for inflation over the next two years while seeing a faster pace of growth over the next 12 months, according to the Reserve Bank's Survey of Expectations.

The mean expectation for inflation one year out is 2.94 per cent, down from the 3.12 per cent estimate in last quarter's survey. The two-year series fell to 2.86 per cent from 3 per cent. 

Monetary conditions are now regarded as being easier than neutral by a net 18 per cent of those surveyed. By December, a net 1.5 per cent expect conditions to be tighter than neutral. That ties with market expectations that Governor Alan Bollard will raise the Official Cash Rate, now at a record low 2.5 per cent, as soon as the third quarter.

The 90-day bank bill rate is seen at 2.9 per cent by the end of September, little changed from the current level of 2.92 per cent. By June next year the rate is expected to climb to 3.6 per cent and the 10-year bond yield is seen at 5.2 per cent from 4.45 per cent now. 

The survey polled 67 business managers, of which 20 were in the finance sector, 30 in business, seven in agriculture and 5 in labour. They see gross domestic product growing 2.9 per cent in the year ahead, up from a 2.1 per cent rate in last quarter's survey. The two-year ahead figure rose just 1 basis point to 2.9 per cent. 

Economists say the economy will get a kick start later this year when the rebuild of Christchurch gets underway in earnest and as visitor numbers jump with the Rugby World Cup. 

The RBNZ survey suggests wage pressures are picking up even if overall inflation is seen easing. Hourly earnings are expected to rise 2.9 per cent in the year ahead, up from 2.5 per cent growth three months ago. The two-year series rose 1 basis point to 3.1 per cent. 

The kiwi dollar may be trading at US83c by the end of the year before easing back to US81c by the end of June 2012. It recently traded at US82.60c. 

It may buy 80 Australian cents by June next year from A79.15c now.

Support for the Chamber

New Members

We would like to welcome the following new member to the Chamber :