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Published on November 17, 2007

In the previous week, the reserves stood at $82.6 billion.

 On the same day, net forward positions were valued at $18 billion, compared to $17.7 billion a week earlier.

 It was the second straight week that the combined amount of reserves and forward positions stayed higher than $100 billion, indicating the central bank's continued buying into the US dollar to weaken the baht.

Capital reduced

Eastern Printing expects to resume share trading on November 26 after its capital reduction by two-thirds, said managing director Weera Louwitawas.

Its book value after capital reduction will be Bt1.20. The company's share price before suspension was 79 satang.

Weera said that after capital reduction, the company would proceed with the merger with S Pack and Print, expecting to complete it in next year's first quarter. The merged entity's market capitalisation would be Bt2.5 billion.

Motor show

Auto dealers in Chiang Mai will host the "Chiang Mai Motor Show" from December 1-10, expecting to reap total sales of Bt200 million from 300 vehicles.

Last year, the event sold 260 vehicles worth Bt169 million.

Chairat Yapanya, chairman of the province's Auto Dealers' Club, is confident about sales growth, due to rising public confidence in the economy after the setting of the national election date.

He also said Chiang Mai's auto sales this year should increase 10 per cent last year, when the total market value was about Bt7 billion.

"Since political stability is seen in the third quarter, more people have become more confident about spending. The sales value has been rising with rising oil prices," Chairat said.

Farming talks

High-level officials from governments across the region will meet in Bangkok next Wednesday to discuss approaches to tackling poverty in rural Asia, with the focus on a regional agenda for research priorities.

Hosted by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the meeting is based on the fact that more than 70 per cent of poor people in Asia live in rural areas and depend largely on agriculture for daily food and income.

 The Nation