Top business people have voiced concerns about the Surayud government's handling of foreign business laws regarding the use of nominees, saying they would prefer to follow more transparent regulations.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Open House with Economic Ministers organised by Nation Multimedia Group, Petri Deryng, director of the Thai-Finnish Chamber of Commerce, commented that the biggest concern for foreign investors was the complicated legal framework covering nominees.

He said most foreign investors were keen to accept any change in the regulations that would make nominee practices more transparent.

"My company deals with a hundred million dollars of business, and we use nominees. Everyone does. But I'm open; I don't lie. If it was more transparent, I would be happy. Let's get rid of the obstacles," said Deryng, who is also a fund manager for PYN Fund Management.

However, Deryng believes the current government is very much aware of the problem.

"I know that this is a political issue and is hard to deal with," he said.

He added that by meeting with investors yesterday, the economic ministers had shown they were sincerely committed to their task, even if they were not able to answer all questions.

"Khun Surayud [Chulanont], the prime minister, delivered a speech the other day. He is a fascinating person; I like him. And the ministers here, though they can't answer every question, they are good-hearted, just like him," he said.

Nominees have become one of the most contentious business issues in the wake of the buy-out of Shin Corp by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

Thai law prohibits foreign companies from holding more than 49 per cent of Thai communication firms. Yet Temasek is believed to control about 96 per cent of Shin Corp through Cedar Holdings and Aspen Holdings and is now being investigated by the police as to whether it employed nominees to circumvent the foreign-ownership law.

On Tuesday Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet spoke clearly about the direction the interim government was taking on the nominee issue. He said a committee was studying the laws and regulations thoroughly to determine which industries should be protected and which could be liberalised.

Once changes to the regulations are approved, foreign companies that have used nominees to circumvent the foreign-ownership law will be given time to unwind their investment without affecting their business.

Speaking at the conference yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula said foreign companies, including Temasek, that had been following the government's approach to the nominee issue should now feel assured that they would not be hurt by any changes to regulations.

Michael Welser, managing director of Power Tech 2004, was impressed with the openness of the Thai ministers as they sought to restore investors' confidence yesterday.

"As the current government was set up in the past few months, it is too early to compare its performance with the previous one. However, the current government has transparency," he said.

A source at an international law firm said he was impressed by the current government as it had devised a clear plan in a short time.

"I'm quite confident in this government," he said. "However, I want the government to address some unclear issues, including nominees and foreign business law."

Paul Strunk, executive director of the Thai-German Chamber of Commerce, said he hoped the foreign business law would be made clearer so that foreign investors would know precisely what to do. He foresaw many difficulties for Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula as he had only 11 months left to correct the mess left by the previous government and initiate new measures.

Greek ambassador Ioannis Papadopoulos said he wanted to see more practical implementation of His Majesty the King's sufficiency economy.

Charlotte Donavanik, first senior executive vice president of the Bank of Ayudhya, said that yesterday's seminar had boosted investors' confidence by giving them clearer information.

"Foreign investors know that the ministers who answered the questions here know their job well. For example, the Commerce Minister spoke on how to transfer Otop into SMEs, while in the past the government only talked about Otop," she said.

Pichit Akrathit, president of MFC Asset Management, said the ministers had provided helpful information but investors wanted to hear more about what Thailand was doing to address constraints on investment. He said the issue of nominees had not been explained in enough detail, even though the Commerce Ministry had promised foreigners that the government would tackle it.

Eakachai Chongvisal, head of Tisco Asset Management's mutual-funds business, said nominees were the hottest issue for foreign investors.

"Today investors feel slightly relieved that the Commerce Minister is trying to achieve compromise. Many companies in Thailand use nominees, so they're quite worried about their future here," said Eakachai.

Nasu Chunsom, Ayudhya Fund Management's head of equity investment, said many questions had been answered, although there were still some issues around nominees.

"Today was about communicating with foreign investors to let them understand what the government is doing, and it worked," he said.

Visit Tantisunthorn, the Government Pension Fund's secretary-general, said much had been made clear but uncertainty remained around the nominee issue.

"Overall, the ministers have shown an intention to build good fundamentals that the next government can continue. This will bring the Thai economy back to a stable point," said Visit.

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