- News & Update

FTAs Push Thai Export Growth

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:20:34 +0700

Recently, Department of Trade Negotiations disclosed about Thailand trade’s situation under free trade agreement (FTA) with other countries during five months in this year.

“From January- May in this year, FTA with every country has tendency to increase because the main products of Thailand can be expanded to other markets. Thailand has Trade surplus to Australia, India, Peru and BIMSTEC group, However Thailand has Trade deficit to New Zealand, China, Japan, and European Free Trade Association: EFTA”, Khun Chutima Bunyaprapat, Director-General of Trade Negotiations Department said.

“In case of trade surplus of Thailand, that’s because of Trading Countries decreased tax rate of major commodities as FTA’s agreement, so Thailand has more capability to increase export volume when compare with countries which do not have FTA’s agreement. In the opposite, Thailand import the goods to produce a product is the main cause to make a deficit, especially raw material products and half completed goods which will effect the export volume in the future.

For FTA’s value between Thai-Australia, Thai exported value 90,114.77 (THB Millions), 15.25 percentage increased and imported value 59,464.16 (THB Millions), 14.20 percentage increased. For Thai-New Zealand, exported value 9,264.08 (THB Millions), 15.31 percentage increased, and imported value 9,847.64 (THB Millions), 94.75 percentage increased.

FTA between Thai-India, Thai exported value 42,212.52 (THB Millions), 21.90 percentage increased and imported value 36,454.89 (THB Millions), 30.09 percentage increased, while FTA between Thai-China, Thai exported value 222,739.41 (THB Millions), 17.82 percentage increased and imported value increased 20.62 percentage or 265,168.20 (THB Millions).

FTA between Thai-Japan, exported value 261,109.51 (THB Millions), 2.92 percentage increased and imported value 443,659.72 (THB Millions). For Thai-Peru, Thai exported value 3,359.31 (THB Millions), 212.45 percentage increased, and imported value 1,259.08 (THB Millions), 26.54 percentage decreased.

The trade between Thailand and BIMSTEC group, exported value 75,799.56 (THB Millions), 27.45 percentage increased and imported value 74,830.68 (THB Millions), 16.07 percentage increased, and the trade between Thai-EFTA group, exported value 21,959.20 (THB Millions), 4.27 percentage increased and imported increased 75.20 percentage or 44,752.95 (THB Millions).

“Although FTA has the affect to increase the export volume but our some product also has negative affect from FTA. However, government always follows and estimates the trade situation regularly. In case there is any group of product which will be affected to domestic industry, government will issue policy to protect or entrepreneurs, they can inform to Ministry of Commerce for subsidy from FTA fund.” Khun Chutima added.

Carriers approach breakeven point in Asia-Europe trade

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:39:11 +0700

OVER the course of the past two days we have analysed the situation on the Asia-Europe trade and have concluded that carriers are encroaching upon the profit break-even point.

Thus far, we have examined the fixed costs of running an 8,000 plus TEU time chartered vessel and measured these costs against the lowest freight rates in the trade today and found that these rates only just covered the fixed costs of running a full steaming vessel from selected Asian ports to Europe.

In addition, we found that when the speed of the vessel is reduced these rates can no longer cover the fixed cost of running the vessel from one of the selected ports used in the study—Chiwan.

However, when we continued our analysis yesterday, we shifted gears to focus on variable costs and found that the vessel operator could not cover his bunker costs if the vessel was running at full speed with the FEFC proposed BAF surcharge for the coming month.

On the other hand, the vessel operator could reduce his bunker expenditure by around 30 per cent through slow steaming and by doing so, could cover this cost.

Today we will conclude this three-part series by summarising the overall picture to give carriers a general overview of what steps need to be taken and what mistakes to avoid as we enter deeper into a second half that could prove very challenging as volumes are expected to continue declining on the trade.

Again, for the purposes of this study, we will continue our analysis using the same 8,468 TEU vessel with an effective capacity of 6,230 TEU at an assumed average weighting of 14 tons per TEU across the entire ship.

From our analysis in part one we know that by full steaming the vessel at 25 knots the operator will incur a total operating cost of roughly US$3.024 million per round trip, and will require a freight rate of at least $485 per TEU.

By slow steaming, the vessel will run an additional seven days on the ocean, and will therefore incur a higher fixed cost for the additional days at sea. The total round voyage cost for the slow steaming vessel stands at around $3.4 million, meaning that the operator will need a freight rate of $546 per TEU to cover its costs

(Source : CSM website)

Tariff Code Classification in advance

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:15:23 +0700

Notification of the Customs Department No. 54/2008

Subject: Tariff Code Classification in advance

In order to facilitate the process of customs clearance and make it faster, accurate and able to know Tariff Code of import goods in advance follows global standard and be a support of international business.

In pursuance to the power conferred upon him by Section 3 of the Customs Act B.E. 2469, the Director General of Customs has issued the Notification as follows:

No. 1    Tariff Code Classification in advance

This service is to provide Tariff Code Classification in advance for importers who would like to import any goods into the kingdom.

No. 2    How to apply

Applicant must be submitted petition form at least 30 working days before imported goods is arrived the kingdom as per enclosed attached form no. 1 in this notification, at Customs Tariff Classification Office with document and supported evidences as follows:

(2.1)      One set of petition form must be used by one kind of goods. In case there is over 1 kind of goods, petition form must be separated per each.

(2.2)      Any document to prove that the goods will be imported into Thailand, such as Purchase Order, Sale Contract, Invoice, Letter of Credit or Performa Invoice.



(2.3)      The description of goods which is necessary to classify and other supported documents, such as

- Name/ Trading name/ Brand

- Goods Qualification

- Ingredient

- Production formula

- Chemistry structure

- Production Process

- Work Process

- Utilization

- Type of Package

- Sample

- Picture

- Catalogue

- Analyzed Result

- Tariff Code which related to the same kind of goods / similar and ever to classify

-Other information (If any)

No. 3    How to submit

Customs officers receive the petition form and check the completed of documents, and other supported evidences as indicate in No.2, and then proceed as per follows:

(3.1)      In case that document is completed, customs officers will seal the received date and signature. Then, present this petition form to the director of Customs Tariff Classification Office or authorized person to assign responsible officers for further consideration immediately.

(3.2)      In case that document is not completed, customs officers will inform applicant and let them make it completely.

No. 4    Consideration

(4.1)      Considered Officers check the detail of requested goods with document and supported evidences, then proceed as per follows:

(4.1.1)   In case that document is completed and has sufficient information to classify, the process will be finished within 30 working days and inform the result to applicant as per enclosed attached form no. 2 in this notification.

(4.1.2)   In case that document does not have enough sufficient information to classify, applicant will be informed by written letter within 5 working days after seal date.

(4.1.2.1) In case that there is no additional information provided by applicant within 15 working days after informed date, (letter in no. 4.1.2), the second letter, warning letter will be sent and there is no further contact from applicant within 15 working days after warning letter date. This is to consider that applicant does not have further purpose to apply this tariff code classification in advance and then, present this case to director for further assignment in order to cancel and issue cancellation letter to inform applicant as per enclosed attached form no. 3 in this notification.

(4.1.2.2) In case that applicant is not able to give additional information within given time, they are allowed to request the extra time. Applicant must submit this request to Customs Tariff Classification Office by written letter with necessary reasons and specify the exactly time to provide that additional information. In case, the extended time is over, Considered Officers has the right to cancel this petition form and issue cancellation letter to inform applicant as per enclosed attached form no. 3 in this notification.

(4.2)      when additional information is received



(4.2.1)   In case that additional information has sufficient information to classify, the process will be the same as indicate in No. 4.1.1

(4.2.2)   In case that additional information does not have enough sufficient information to classify, additional information will be requested from applicant by written letter and must provided it within 15 working days. In case there is no additional information provided by applicant, it is to consider that applicant does not have further purpose to apply this tariff code classification in advance and then, present this case to director for further assignment in order to cancel and issue cancellation letter to inform applicant as per enclosed attached form no. 3 in this notification.

(4.3)      Director of Customs Tariff Classification Office or authorized persons is a person to consider, approve, and sign on the result letter of Tariff Code Classification and cancellation Letter.

In case that this petition can not be completed within specified time, applicant will be informed by written letter with reason and estimated time to complete as per enclosed attached form no. 4 in this notification.

No. 5    Result of Tariff Code Classification in advance



The result of Tariff Code Classification in advance as per enclosed attached no. 2 has the effect to customs’ process as below.



(5.1)      To refer on import customs declaration for imported goods into kingdom.

(5.2)      Related Customs Officers have to behave as per the result of Tariff Code Classification in advance.

(5.3)           The result is valid within 1 year after result date.

(5.4)           The result can be affected to only requested applicant for same goods which is applied in advance only.

In case, there is any amendment about Customs Tariff Code in Customs’ laws and regulation or any new information which has the effect or make change to the result of tariff code classification, it should be considered that the original result will be ended and the new notification will take effect. However, this change does not have affect to imported goods which already imported into the Kingdom.

No. 6    Revision

(6.1)      Applicant has the right to ask for revision of the result as per enclosed attached form no. 5 within 30 working days after result date at Customs Tariff Classification Office.

(6.2)           Revision Process as per enclosed attached form no. 6 must be finished within 30 working days after seal date.

(6.3)           The result of revision is recognized to be the best and valid within 1 year after revision date.

Effective July 1, 2008

Announced July 10, 2008

Mr. Visut Sisuphan

The Customs Department Director

Resource:         The Customs Department Announcement No. 54/2551

First Vessel to Ranong Port

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:18:39 +0700

July 25, 2008, PAT (Port Authority of Thailand) arranged a ceremony to celebrate the first vessel to Ranong Port by Gati Coast to Coast Carrier from India. In this ceremony, Mr. Pinit Charoenpanit, Duputy of Ranong Governor as president, Ms. Pankhae Junnanon, Deputy of PAT Director, Mr. Pichet Mankon, Assistant Director of PAT , Mr. Kumaran Thirumagaral, Deputy Chairman of Gati Coast to Coast, Mr. Siaw Hooi Chuan, Chairman of Meridian Shipping Services Group, Mr. Sumet Kewngamdee and Mr. Soonthorn, Director of Starline Agencies Asia (Thailand) and the representatives from government & private sectors in Ranong Province who related to this event around 100 estimated guests to join.

Vessel, Gati Prestige, she is a container vessel, and 8,161 dead weight tons. She has been delivered 20’ * 200 empty container and 150 laden containers from Yangon, Myanmar to Ranong Port, and continues her journey to Port Blair and Chennai, India respectively.

Gati Coast to Coast is one business part of Gati Limited who is the leader in logistics field in India. They start to provide container vessel, which routing from Ranong Port – Ports in Myanmar and India. This service facilitates importer and exporters to make international transport more convenience, and faster by container.

The said service, “Gati Coast to Coast Service”, provides main routing service, Ranong Port – Port Blair – Chennai Port – Yangon Port and back to Ranong Port. Moreover, Chittagong Port and Colombo Port are additional routing services provided by Gati Coast to Coast. At the initial stage, they serve the service every ten days by using 4 container vessels which has minimum load 300 TEU. The first export vessel from Ranong Port is estimated to arrange on August 25, 2008.

The representative agent of this carrier is Starline Agencies Asia (Thailand) Co., Ltd. which has their representative in Southern part & Bangkok to facilitate the transportation between Thailand and targeted destinations. They are also focusing to expand business to importer & exporter who are not located only in Southern but also including Central Parts of Thailand. They are quite confidence that this service will facilitate the transport cargo to South East Asia and BIMSTEC’s group with efficiency, convenience and faster.

Targeted Customers are divided into three groups; there are “Lower Southern Part”, pick up empty container & return laden container at Ranong Port, this kind of targeted customers who are currently exports via Penang Port & Songkha Port. The second group, “Upper Southern Part”, Suratthani Province is a hub, which customers can pick up & return container at Suratthani Province. The last group, “Central & East Parts”, empty containers & return laden containers at Bangkok Port or Laem Chabang Port and further delivery to Ranong Port.

Moreover, they also focused CFS at Ranong Port in order to reduce logistics cost of carrier and customers. The most popular export goods to India & Myanmar are Cement, Particle Boards, Rubber, and piecemeal products. Import from India & Myanmar is also focused in order to balance between export from Ranong Port. In case the demand is over supply, bigger vessel will replace the existing vessel to serve customers’ demand. They emphasize on Cost Reduction, Saving Transit Time, Reliability and Punctuality.

Duputy of Ranong Governor said he would like to congratulation and thank you to PAT that successfully to convince the container vessel to start new connecting routing between Ranong Port, Ports in India and other countries which located at the west of Andaman Seas. This event is also supports to international business and makes Ranong Port to be the hub of international transport in Andaman Seas. As a representative of Ranong Province, we are willing to cooperate with PAT and related parties to develop infrastructure and other facilities to support ongoing businesses, transport, Economic of Ranong and country.

Duputy of PAT said that it was very impressive with important event and would like to thank you to Duputy of Ranong Governor and Gati Coast to Coast from India that selected Ranong Port under PAT’s management to start business on this routing which are a lot of challenge obstacle and more risks. However, we do not have any doubt that Gati will achieve their own target by their efforts. In the part of PAT, including director or service providers, we are willing to support Gati in order to help them achieve the target.

Ranong Port’s New Crane

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:45:13 +0700

The Port Authority of Thailand recently added a multi-purpose Mobile Harbor Crane to turn Ranong Port into an international port. Mr. Pichade Mankong, PAT’s Assistant Director General, Business Administration, said the crane would increase the port’s efficiency and allows the growth of containerized cargo in the future. The crane has the lifting capacity of 63 tons, has a maximum outreach of 20 meters and can handle containers, bulk material, general cargo and heavy loads. The crane was delivered to the port in March and the assembly and testing process was completed in April. According to Mr. Pichade, staff at Ranong Port had been trained for three weeks on how to operate and maintain the new equipment and now the crane is already in operations.

(Source : Port Authority of Thailand)

“The ongoing plan to upgrade Ranong Port will hasten the readiness of the port to be a gateway for trade in the Andaman region” said Mr. Pichade. In addition, Star Line Agencies Asia (Thailand) ltd. which is a ship agent of Gati Limited revealed that the company had a plan to use Ranong Port for their service and the first vessel would be arriving this July 2008.

What is the future for the Asia Pacific logistics market?

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:23:47 +0700

The global logistics industry is going through an uncertain period. The US has so far borne the brunt of an economic slowdown which shows little sign of abating. Europe has proved more resilient, although consumer and manufacturer confidence is dropping. It has fallen to the Asia Pacific market to continue to drive forward growth rates which have proved, to date at least, to be extremely resilient. The question is, will that last?

Many economists believe the Chinese economy is set for a slowdown in the next few years. However, the true extent will be very difficult to gauge as any accurate forecast depends ultimately upon calculating the true nature and depth of the US recession. It also depends a lot on structural issues in China. However, recent forecasts have downgraded growth of the Chinese economy to around 9.7% to take account of that. Inflation is presently about 7.7%, down from a 12 year high in April of 8.5%. The pressure on food and fuel prices will have implications for the whole economy.

Japan, still the largest economy in the region, has for more than a decade been rooted firmly in an economic rut and although there were signs that it would finally return to higher levels of growth, that has not materialised. GDP growth is set to be around 1% for some time, although inflation is not something the country needs not to worry too much about.

Of the newer emerging economies, Vietnam has been one of the region's great success stories and as a result of opening up its markets has experienced average annual growth rates of 7.5% over the past ten years. However, the economy is now suffering from more financial instability than China, with inflation running at 25% and the Vietnam Dong depreciating significantly. Despite that, the country continues to attract outside investors and foreign direct investment has leapt over the past year from $4.4bn in the first five months of 2007 to $15.3bn in the same period this year.

South Korea, once one of the Asia 'tiger economies', is also faced with inflationary pressures, although not to the same extent as in Vietnam. Rising food and fuel prices have led to inflation increasing to 4.9% and economic growth is expected to be affected – falling to 4.4% in 2008. However, trade growth is strong (around 14%) and new bilateral free trade agreements, including one with the US, could see it grow further.

From this summary, it could be said that the macro-economic outlook for the Asia Pacific region is mixed. A major factor for growth prospects will be the future level of commodity prices. If, as some economists predict, they flatten out in 2009 and then slowly reduce, inflationary pressures will fall and stronger economic growth will return.

To obtain some further insight into the future, it is worthwhile looking at how the major Asia Pacific freight and logistics companies are performing at this time.

Shipping

The first quarter 2008 figures from Singapore-based global transportation and logistics group Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), which owns container shipping line APL, saw revenue grow by 27% to $2.41bn whilst EBIT jumped 114% to $137m.

NOL's figures showed that although transpacific trade into the North American west coast was depressed, volumes out of the US and into the east coast were buoyant, as were China-Europe and transatlantic traffic flows.

In the same quarter, Japanese shipping line NYK Line also delivered good results, helped by its bulk shipping business. Demand from China for coal and iron ore remained greater than the shipping sector's ability to deliver it, resulting in a 73% jump in operating profit.

Slightly more surprisingly, container trades also proved to be strong for NYK, producing a 21.4% increase in operating income. NYK hinted that uptrend was driven by the strength of Asia- Europe traffic rather than the transpacific market.

MOL, another Japanese shipping line, reported quite similar market conditions, with routes other than transpacific sectors driving up its container traffic. Bulk cargo volumes and car traffic were also very strong although profitability was hit by much higher fuel prices. The picture painted by 'K' Line was very similar, with strong demand for bulk commodities such as iron ore and coal, as well as car transport, supported by the continuing strength of container trades other than the falling transpacific market.

In their forecasts for the coming year, all three of these Japanese companies suggested continuing strong markets in shipping and other services except into the US. All expect European demand to continue to grow sufficiently to absorb excess capacity from transpacific trades, although MOL hit a note of caution about the continuing strength of demand from China after the Olympics.

Air freight

In the air freight sector, the IATA figures for the first five months of the year revealed a 1.2% growth in Asian carrier traffic set against a 1% increase in capacity. As demand slightly outstripped supply, that would suggest an increase in air cargo rates, in addition to the high levels of fuel surcharges presently being applied by all airlines. However, in May there was a drop in output resulting from the impact of the earthquake in China and weakness in the Japanese economy.

Latest figures from Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific show that demand has remained fairly robust in most markets, with the exception of northeast Asia. As with the IATA figures, its cargo tonnage growth has stayed ahead of capacity growth. However, the continued rise in jet fuel costs is having a serious impact on its bottom line.

Korean Air, one of the world's largest cargo airlines, said in its most recent financial release that the overall Korean air cargo market was growing at around 12%. The weakening Korean Won had triggered outbound cargo and traffic from US/Europe to China and South East Asia had shown strong growth. The airline believes that following the free trade agreement between Korea and US, air cargo will show a 10% annual growth.

Finally, in its latest quarter, Singapore-based SIA Cargo's freight traffic was 0.4% higher compared to last year. However, as capacity grew by a higher 1.6% during the quarter, the cargo load factor declined by 0.8 percentage points.

Express

In Deutsche Post World Net's 2008 first half interim results, its DHL Express division reported organic growth revenue growth − excluding currency effects and other non-operative items − of 13% in the Asia Pacific region. However, management commented that "economic momentum slowed somewhat in China". Also in the express sector, TNT reported that significant operational growth had been fuelled by "high double-digit" increases in China and India, presumably meaning growth in the region of 17-19%.

Growth in the region for UPS and FedEx is more difficult to quantify although it is known that the domestic Chinese express market is facing problems due to its hyper-competitive nature and rising fuel prices. UPS has reported more than 15% growth for the quarter in the region helped by good performances across all its business units. It had been particularly strong in China (growth of 30%) and India (almost 25%). The region delivered growth of nearly 20% for the 2007 full year. The numbers for FedEx are less certain although it is investing heavily in China, both in terms of infrastructure and, it is believed, in price cuts to make its services more competitive. It is planning a new Asia Pacific hub, which will open in 2009 in Guangzhou, and opened a domestic hub in Hangzhou at the end of 2007.

Conclusion

The range of macro-economic indicators and company performances just highlighted, show that the Asia Pacific market is still in good shape, although under pressure. Inflation is the big worry for many economies and that could have a detrimental effect on growth prospects if food, fuel and other commodity prices continue to rise. Fuel increases will no doubt have an impact on rebalancing the supply/demand equation in many logistics markets as a result of company failures. That will eventually lead to upward pressure on rates even in highly fragmented sectors such as road freight and domestic parcels. Fuel prices will also play a role in the shipping and air cargo sectors – not at this stage curtailing revenues, but reducing profits.

It would be too simplistic to conclude that the Asia Pacific logistics market's fortunes depend wholly on the price of oil. However, in some ways it is more vulnerable than its counterparts in Europe or North America. As a large proportion of production in the region is export-oriented, if oil prices remain at very high levels for a significant period of time, western manufacturing companies may decide it is in their interests to restructure their global supply chains. In part, that would be due to the increased cost of transporting goods from Asia Pacific to western markets, and in part due to the increased labour costs which are becoming apparent throughout the region.

In conclusion, as this brief analysis of the performance of key economies and logistics companies shows, it is far too early to discount continued strong growth in the market. The developing markets of Asia Pacific may well lead the world out of a global slowdown, positioning the region even more strongly for the future.

Global Distribution Strategies 2008 – Asia Pacific
(Source : www.transportintelligence.com )

Notification of the Customs Department No. 58/2551, dated July 10, 2008.

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:29:40 +0700

New Service, “Tariff Code Classification” has been launched by the customs department in order to facilitate the process of import clearance and support international business.

Mr. Wisudhi Srisuphan, Director of Customs Department, said that, nowadays, there are a lot of new launched products which are developing all the time, including import various raw materials to produce, mix, and makes of product. From above reasons, to properly classify Tariff code is very detailed and important. Customs Officers must have strong knowledge, Tariff code regulation, clear understanding of tariff code, and experience. In case, there is incorrect classification, it will be affected to the import duty payment, government sector and entrepreneur’s business.

In order to facilitate the process of import clearance, make it faster, accurate and following global standard, the customs department announced notification no. 58/2551, dated July 10, 2008, subject: The customs department provides “Tariff code classification” in advance. To apply this service, entrepreneur must submit application form at Customs tariff classification department, 120 years building at least 30 working days before imported goods is arrived Thailand. The application form also available to download at www.customs.go.th, subject: Laws; Customs department notification Year 2001 – Present. The result of this classification can be referred on import customs entry declaration; imported goods must be exactly same as the detail in application form and this result valid within 1 year.

Year 2008 (January – June 2008), there are 334 applications from entrepreneurs to use this service.

Special briefing: Collapse of WTO talks threatens global trade

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:02:58 +0700

Geneva, Switzerland: World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Pascal Lamy has announced that after days of negotiations, ministers have failed to agree on the liberalisation of trade in agriculture and industrial products. That has led to the collapse of the whole trade negotiation process which, if successful, would have resulted in a major boost for economies in the developing and developed world.

Talks foundered on agreeing a 'special safeguard mechanism' in farm products for developing countries and ultimately came down to an impasse between the US and India. Lamy's summary of the situation was bleak. "It is no use beating around the bush. This meeting has collapsed. Members have not been able to bridge their differences," he told journalists later.

Out of a 'to-do list' of 20 topics, 18 had seen positions converge but the gaps could not be narrowed on the 19th — the special safeguard mechanism for developing countries, which would have allowed those countries to raise tariffs temporarily in order to deal with import surges and price falls.

The sticking point boiled down to some countries (mainly India and China) wanting a high 'trigger' (a large import surge needed to trigger the tariff increase) in order to avoid the safeguard being triggered by normal trade growth, while others (e.g. US and EU) wanted a lower trigger so that the safeguard could be easier to use.

"After more than 36 hours trying to find bridges between these two positions, today it became clear that the differences were irreconcilable," commented Lamy yesterday (July 29).

According to the WTO, the overall package was worth more than $130bn in tariff savings annually by the end of the implementation period, with a $35bn saving in agriculture and $95bn in industrial goods. Developing countries would have contributed one-third and benefited from two-thirds of the overall gains and it would have led to a rebalancing of the rules of the trading system in favour of developing countries.

Getting talks back on track will be hugely challenging. In the wake of the collapse, there have been multiple recriminations. China accused wealthy developed nations in the EU and North America of being "selfish" for not agreeing to scrap farm subsidies. Japan, meanwhile, blamed India and China for not living up to their responsibilities as major trading partners.

So why should we all be worried about the failure of the talks, given that the outcome will mainly affect agriculture? The reason lies in the fault lines which have been increasingly exposed between various interest groups of countries throughout the duration of the Doha Round of talks.

The WTO has been largely responsible for the trend towards globalisation, benefiting industry and consumers throughout the world – not least in China which has perhaps been the greatest beneficiary of all. If, as has already started to occur, countries decide to bypass the WTO, by developing their own bilateral agreements, or even worse, rebuilding protectionist barriers to trade, the economic consequences will be severe.

At a time when many economists feel that the global economy is sliding towards recession, it is even more important to embrace the ethos of free trade. The failure to do so, and the eventual breakdown of the WTO which has proven so effective in providing a stable platform for global trade, will harm industry and consumers in the very countries which have blocked any chance of a deal.

Source: Transport Intelligence, July 29, 2008

An Indian Ship Company starts using Ranong Port

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:03:32 +0700

The augural trip of an Indian ship belonging to GATI Coast to Coast India Company arrived at the Ranong port on Saturday bringing in 230 containers to take back goods from southern Thailand. The ship was welcomed to the port by the Thai Port Authority Deputy Director Pankhae Junnanond and president of the Indian company.

The GATI Coast to Coast India is the first Indian large ship-liner which has decided to use the Ranong port to transport goods between Thailand and India so that it does not have to go via the Malacca Straits to Klong Toi in Bangkok or Laem Chabang in the eastern province of Chonburi. This saves the company’s costs plus journey time. The Thai authorities welcome the move as it boosts business and investment for Ranong.

The Port Authority of Thailand also allocates 150 million baht budget to purchase a crane to lift heavy containers.

New depot opening for cargo to/from neighborhood country.

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:14:02 +0700

According to the Thai Customs Department announced that new depot was opened at 222 Chayangkul Bangsaiyai, Mookdahharn Province to inspect import cargoes as well as stuffing export cargoes, which is managed by Mookdahharn Lanthong Company Limited.

Mukdahharn is located on the bank of the Mae Khong River opposite Suwannakhet in Laos, 642 km distance from Bangkok.