The Livestock Development Department plans to upgrade the hygiene standards of the slaughter and sale of livestock nationwide by ensuring each of the country's 76 provinces has one standard slaughterhouse, one hygienic meat shop and one closed truck to carry carcasses by the end of the year.

Yukol Limlamthong, director-general of the department, said yesterday that each slaughterhouse would be licensed to ensure a tracibility standard and would receive pig, cattle and poultry. So far 2,075 slaughterhouses have been registered with the department.

Growth triangle seminar : Regional conference gets underway

Malaysia is scheduled to host the 13th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Conference at the Salangor's Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel in Petaling Jaya from September 12 to 14.

"The conference aims to improve trade relations and cooperation among the IMT-GT districts. This is in line with the government's policy to strengthen ties among the Asean countries," Tang See Hang, chairman of State Investment, Trade and Industry Executive Committee, said last week.

According to the Malaysian national news agency Bernama, around 200 participants from 25 districts were expected to attend the conference.

Participating districts include North Sumatra, Acheh and Riau Islands from Indonesia and Satun, Songkhla, Pataani, Yala and Narathiwat from Thailand, and the Malaysian states of Penang, Perak, Kedah, Perlis, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan.

Thailand exhibition 2006 : Dubai shindig attendance doubles

The number participants in the Thailand Exhibition 2006 at the Dubai World Trade Centre has doubled to more than 200 from last year's show.

The exhibition is aimed at boosting trade in goods in services with the United Arab Emirates.

The four-day exhibition which ends September 13, will allow a wide range of Thai products to be displayed, including automobile parts and accessories, chemical products, construction material, electronics, flowers (artificial and natural), food and beverages, footwear, furniture, garments, textiles and fashion accessories, gifts and decorative items, hardware and machinery, health and beauty products, household and kitchenware, jewellery, pharmaceutical and sanitary products, plastics and packaging products and stationery as well as goods from the One Tambon One Product scheme.