Piroj Limchamroon, deputy director-general of the department, said yesterday that the agency would promote 14 fresh and processed fruits such as durian, rambutan, mangosteen, pomelo, various kinds of mango, banana, guava, coconut, pineapple, dried longan and dried and fried durian.

The fair will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from May 29-31. It is expected that some 10,000 fruit traders will participate.

He added that it was a good opportunity to find suitable partners in China to help get direct access to more markets.

Good Drinks aims to double units, sales

To serve rising demand for filtered drinking water, Good Drinks Co Ltd, a maker of automated water-dispensing vending machines, plans to double the number of units it has in operation to 2,400 in an effort to also double its sales to Bt100 million.

To achieve the goal, the company has launched a new machine called the "Microban", which, the company claims, can stop the growth of bacteria and algae in water. It is the first such machine in Asia, according to Viroj Rerksiriwan, managing director of the company.

He said the product was launched at the Home & Decor trade exhibition, held earlier this month at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

Eventually, one water-dispensing vending machine will be required for every 100-square-metre area because of the rising in population, according to Viroj.

M'sian, Indian firms eye Thai rail project

Sithru (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has submitted a bid to participate in a US$150-million (Bt5.7 billion) Thai railway project in partnership with India's Kalindae Rail Nirman (Engineers) Ltd.

The project is one of Thailand's many mega-project plans, in which the government has been trying to drum up interest among foreign investors.

"We are actively bidding for overseas projects, including the one in Thailand," said S Thiruneelakanda, Sithru's managing director, according to Bernama news agency.

He made his remarks at a Monday signing ceremony of a cooperation pact between Sithru and Chase Perdana Bhd to develop new rail routes in Sri Lanka.

CP Foods boosted by stable dumping rate

Charoen Pokphand Foods has welcomed news that the US Commerce Department is maintaining the 5.95-per-cent anti-dumping rate applied to imports of all Thai shrimp products until the end of 2007. This should be positive for the company's sales in the US, which account for 35-40 per cent of CPF's shrimp exports.