After the meeting with the firms on Monday, secretary-general Satit Chanjavanakul said the BoI was open to proposals from all 11 auto-makers. “Every auto-producer seemed to be interested in offering their proposals and pleased with the new policy strategy,” he said.
Satit added that Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras would like to see clear criteria for eco-car projects within the first quarter next year.

Small retailers told to unite
The Commerce Ministry has urged that the country’s 400,000 small retail operators to collaborate to strengthen their bargaining power in the face of the rapid expansion by multinational giants. In a seminar held yesterday by the Business Development Department, Commerce Minister Krirk-Krai Jirapaet said smaller retailers should adapt to cope with the onslaught from the major operators.
He said the ministry had no plans to intervene in businesses, but would provide knowledge and technology to encourage smaller operators to adapt.
“It is an unavoidable result of liberalisation, but we must prepare for tougher competition through clear regulations and stringent enforcement,” he added.
 Krirk-krai said collaboration between small retailers would give them higher bargaining power with major players. However, any action taken by either small or big operators would be scrutinised under the Trade Competition Act.

Financial bodies get tax cut
The Cabinet yesterday approved a cut in the specific business tax levied on banks, finance houses, securities firms and credit fonciers.
The reduction – from 3 per cent to 0.01 per cent – will take effect after it is published in the Royal Gazette.
The move is aimed at encouraging more transactions involving such businesses and at getting financial institutions to play a greater role in the development of the financial market.
The Cabinet also decided to abolish a law allowing financial institutions to deduct the losses from investment in debt instruments from the profits from such investment.

Agile leap by PWC Logistics
The PWC Logistics Group, which includes some of the most prominent names in the global logistics industry, including GeoLogistics, TransOceanic and Trans-Link, has announced the rebranding of the company by unveiling a new name and logo: Agility.
Kuwait-based Agility is a 20,000-employee company with over 450 offices in more than 100 countries. It is publicly traded, with annual revenues of US$4.5 billion (Bt164 billion). The rebranding completes the integration of services across the group.