Shipping industry sees hope in arising opportunities and resilient sectors
Singapore, 2 February 2012 – Several bright spots in the maritime industry are showing prospects and opportunities even as the global shipping industry faces a slow sail this year. Offshore, shipbuilding, green shipping and a growing Asia – these sectors will be the focus of the Asia Pacific Maritime (APM) 2012, which takes place in Singapore from 14 to 16 March this year.
Regarded as Asia’s premier maritime event, APM is set to see dynamic discussions between world maritime leaders on the outlook of the shipping industry and the opportunities to help industry players cope with the slowing economy.
Industry heavyweights, Mr Nobor Ueda, Chairman and President of ClassNK and Vice-Chairman of the International Association of Classification Societies Ltd. (IACS) Council, and Mr Simon Bennett, External Relations Director of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) will co-host the keynote session at APM 2012, themed Asian Shipping: Coping with Turbulent Waters.
“The strength of the shipping industry is inexplicably tied to volatile economic trends and trade patterns. However, despite the uncertainty in the industry, the outlook for Asia remains bright,” said Mr Ueda. “Singapore, in particular, with its tripartite model of forging partnerships is a shining example of how to overcome the downsides of the sluggish global economy.”
Mr Bennett has a more cautious view. “It is currently necessary for any prudent ship operator to anticipate the unexpected. While we had assumed that the worst was over following the 2008 banking crisis, the health of the global economy is still very fragile, and most shipping markets expect a very rough ride in 2012. The only real bright light perhaps is Asia, which continues to sustain demand for many shipping trades, although with the current uncertainty in Europe, even this cannot be guaranteed.”
Maritime associations in Asia are optimistic on the region’s ability to ride out the storm and steer towards a positive forecast.
“The maritime industry in Indonesia is now more advanced and the focus has moved beyond domestic trade to international trade as well. Domestically, shipbuilding, offshore, tugs and barges, and vessels are performing well,” said Mrs Carmelita Hartoto, Chairman of Indonesian National Shipowners’ Association (INSA).

KASIKORNBANK’s 4 Domain Coordinator officially set the Bank’s strategy for 2012 which will be heavily focus on ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as well as reaching out to provincial customers. The four domain coordinators from left to right are as follow:   Mr. Somkiat Sirichatchai, Senior Executive Vice President, Resource Domain Coordinator, Mr. Predee Daochai, Senior Executive Vice President Resource, Risk Domain Coordinator, Mr. Teeranun Srihong, Senior Executive Vice President, Infrastructure Domain Coordinator and Mr. Krisada Lamsam, Senior Executive Vice President, Business Domain Coordinator. The Press Conference was recently held at KASIKORNBANK, Phaholyothin.

Fitch Ratings-Bangkok/Singapore – 25 January 2012: Fitch Ratings (Thailand) has assigned Hana Bank’s (Hana) senior unsecured bonds of up to THB10bn with a minimum maturity of three years a National Long-Term ‘AAA(tha)’ rating.

Hana’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (LTFC IDR) of ‘A-’ with Stable Outlook is at the same level as Thailand’s Long-Term Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (LTLC IDR) of ‘A-’/Stable, which is correlated to ‘AAA(tha)’ on the Thai National Rating scale.

Hana’s LTFC IDR is driven by the bank’s Support Rating Floor of ‘A-’, reflecting Fitch’s expectation of an extremely high probability of support from the South Korean government (‘A+’/Positive), given its systemic importance as one of the major commercial banks in Korea.

Hana’s ‘AAA(tha)’ issue rating could be downgraded if Hana’s LTFC IDR were to be downgraded below Thailand’s LTLC IDR of ‘A-’. Such a scenario would arise if Korea’s sovereign rating is downgraded or the bank’s systemic importance to the Korean economy is reduced. However, either scenario is not expected in the near-term. If Thailand’s LTLC IDR rating were to be upgraded, then Hana’s baht bonds would also be downgraded.

Hana is the sixth-largest bank in Korea with total assets of KRW159trn (or USD141bn) at end-Q311. The bank has a sizable franchise in the Korean banking system, holding 8.6% and 9.7% of the system’s total assets and deposits, respectively, through its nationwide branch network at end-Q311. Hana is the flagship subsidiary of Hana Financial Group.

Mr. Nobuyuki Murahashi, President of Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Co., Ltd. welcomed Dr. Atchaka Sibunrung, Secretary General of BoI on her visiting Mitsubishi Motors Smart Life Smart Energy pavilion in BOI Fair 2011. MMTh present the knowledge and up coming-life style that synchronizes with the environmental friendly vehicle. The visitors will acknowledge the various automotive technologies such as the flex fuel vehicle, the self-sufficiency energy from local agricultural. The high-light of Mitsubishi Motors pavilion is ‘i-MiEV’ electric vehicle that is a part of smart grid society and visitors have good chance to experience their sitting in i-MiEV.

Mr. Somkiat Sirichatchai, Senior Executive Vice President of KASIKORNBANK, said the Bank and subsidiaries’ operating performance for the year of 2011, the Bank and subsidiaries reported net income of Baht 24,226 Million, a rise of Baht 4,179 Million or 20.85% over the previous year. The major was due to the net of interest income as a result of loan growth and consequence of assets and liabilities management to align with interest rate trend.  Meanwhile, the net interest margin (NIM) stood at 3.75% and non-interest income increased by 19.78%, align with KASIKORNBANKGROUP proactive conglomerated strategies with the customer centricity. The efficiency ratio performed at 47.53% which improved from 2010.

KASIKORNBANKGROUP’s assets totaled Baht 1,772,940 Million.  Total loans were Baht 1,210,834 Million, an increase of Baht 133,853 Million or 12.43% over last year as a result of loan growth especially commercial loan and housing loan. The NPL Gross was 2.45% which improved from last year performed at 2.91%, reflecting to effective management of non-performing loans. Total deposits were Baht 1,242,229 Million, an increase of Baht 142,193 Million or 12.93% over last year as a result of increases in time deposits for campaigns to provide greater alternative for the customers.

In the third quarter of 2011, according to the Cabinet’s resolution, the Bank and subsidiaries has disclosed the impact on a reduction in the corporate income tax rate from 30% of taxable profit to 23% in 2012 and 20% in 2013-2014. On 21 December 2011, the Royal Decree was published adopting a reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the Bank and subsidiaries recognized the item of deferred tax in the income statement in the fourth quarter of 2011 in line with International Accounting Standards. However, this is an one-time impact. Since this is the accounting item adjustment, it is not involved with the actual tax payment to the Revenue Department. The Bank and subsidiaries’ business undertaking, profitability and capital fund have not been affected. Therefore, the Bank and subsidiaries will benefit from this reduction in the corporate income tax rate from 2012 onward.

Al-Khobar | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Graduation ceremony held in the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU) in which 76 pre-foundation program students, sponsored by Petrochemicals giant Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), were awarded certificates.  This program held for the first time within the Kingdom was awarded to PMU due its reputation as a student-centered University utilizing the USA model.

PMU was actually designed by TIEC (Texas International Education Consortium) consisting of 32 universities from Texas, the USA. It is the best environment for students to get accustomed to studying in a US university.

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PMU Rector, Dr. Issa Al-Ansari and Mr. Yousef Abdullah Al-Benyan, SABIC’s executive vice president for human resources had signed an agreement at the university’s campus prior to the start of this program.

The university had enrolled students for a three-month long pre-foundation training course. Its curricula is set of eight English language skills—reading, writing, listening, speaking, researching, computing, viewing and presenting with key focus on the academic reading and writing.

The program also included a component related to American Culture and Integrating into it.

Students got training to learn, apply problem solving, develop thinking skills and handle academic and real-life situations once enrolled in the leading US universities.

PMU applies unique mechanism and assessment protocol to judge students’ learning levels. This course is a rigorous training to hone the skills with theoretical and practical assessments. Students passed the End of Program Comprehensive Examination and English Exist Examination.

Academic and co-curricular activities are two components of this program. Co-curricular activities focused at practical approaches towards living in the America’s multicultural society.

Students were groomed for creative thinking and academic excellence besides getting prepared for the American universities. Computer Aided Language Learning through the PMU English Lab improved listening and speaking skills as integral part of this training program.

Modern teaching tools blackboard, smart board, smart classes and wired classes were applied in this program.

Asif Anwar Alig

Media Specialist,

Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BEN-HUR products Co.,Ltd, the manufacturer and importer door lock brand BEN-HUR and MIX by Mr. T-Tutt Jungkankul, The managing director held the program “BEN-HUR Leads to the 34 years Anniversary ,good mind to return the profits to society year 2  and donated BEN-HUR and Mix lock set with the symbol “You buy…we give”, the total amount 150,000 baht  to Habitat for Humanity Thailand.

Press Release Issued By:
BEN-HUR Products
Tel : 0-2689-0888 
Fax : 0-2689-0999
WWW.BEN-HURproducts.com

Published By:
http://www.bday.net

A member of ThaibusinessPR
(www.thaibusinesspr.com)

Despite an all new look, the quality of water and packaging remains at Coca-Cola’s highest of standards. Consumers are invited to help make the world a better place together with three fun and easy steps; ‘Choose-Drink-Crush’.    

The new Namthip in 550ml size is available today at retail shops, supermarkets, hypermarkets, restaurants and minimarts nationwide for seven Baht per bottle.
* By PET weight per size (g. per ml.)

Press Release Issued By:
Coca-Cola (Thailand) Ltd.
Natha Boonprasit Tel. 02-835-1443, 081-173-2893
Hill+Knowlton Strategies Thailand
Kamolrat Plodpai Tel. 02-627-3501 ext. 109, 081-582-2772
Pannarai Thaweechotikitcharoen Tel. 02-627-3501 ext 157, 081-735-7799

 
Published By:
http://www.bday.net

 A member of ThaibusinessPR
(www.thaibusinesspr.com)

Director of the BoT’s Office of Macroeconomics Songtham Pinto said the 4.8% growth forecast this year would be driven largely by domestic spending. The central bank believes the recent flooding situation will not affect the country’s long-term production capacity since the production sector will soon resume normal operation in these 1-6 months.

Service in the private sector and tourism, which are expected to receive a short-term blow from the flooding, will rebound in 1-2 months due to the government’s stimulus packages. Private investment is expected to rise following long repairs of buildings and machineries damaged by the floods.

Government spending on many projects, such as the rice mortgage scheme and the minimum wage hike, will continue to be the main growth stimulus this year, according to the BoT.

In 2011, Thailand saw a mere 1.8% economic expansion after the twin disasters in Japan and severe flooding in many provinces across the Kingdom. The inundation also caused shrinkage of 48% in the production sector, especially in electronics, automobiles and electrical appliances, while exports dropped for the first time since the global credit crunch.

Despite this year’s positive outlook, the central bank has suggested a close monitoring of the situations in major economies, especially the U.S. and the Eurozone, as well as the Thai government’s clarity on future flood prevention.

NNT