Thailand's fast track economy

Thailand Has the Second Largest Economy in Southeast Asia and is One of the World’s Leading Food Exporting Countries

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com /reports/c87139) has announced the addition of “Thailand: Food 4Q 2007” to their offering.

Thailand is the world’s number one producer of natural rubber, rice, canned and frozen seafood, canned tuna, canned pineapples and cassava, and the number two producer of sugar.

“Thailand: Food” provides an overview of Thailand’s food industry, looking at sector size and value, the agricultural, livestock and aquaculture sectors in Thailand. It also covers the market trends and outlook, current issues, the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement, the Kitchen of the World Project, HACCP, import and export tariffs, rules and regulations, supporting organizations and economic growth.

In addition it provides a comparative matrix and SWOT of the industry leading players: Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CPF) and Thai Union Frozen Product PCL (TUF).

Contents:

1. Industry Profile
1.1 Thailand Overview
1.2 Sector Size and Value
1.2.1 Agricultural Sector
1.2.2 Livestock Sector
1.2.3 Aquaculture Sector

2. Market Trends and Outlook
2.1 Current Issue
2.1.1 Japan Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA)
2.1.2 Kitchen of the World Project
2.1.3 Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
2.1.4 Import and Export Tariff
2.1.4.1 Thailand
2.1.4.2 USA
2.1.4.3 European Union
2.1.5 Import and Export Rules and Regulations
2.1.5.1 USA
2.1.5.2 Japan
2.1.5.3 European Union
2.1.6 Support Organization
2.1.6.1 Thai Frozen Food Association (TFFA)
2.1.6.2 National Food Institute of Thailand (NFI)
2. Market Trends and Outlook
2.2 Market Outlook
2.2.1 Economy Growth
2.2.2 Tourism sector
2.2.3 Population
2.2.4 Exchange Rate

3. Leading Players and Comparative Matrix
3.1 Leading Players
3.1.1 Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CPF)
3.1.2 Thai Union Frozen Product PCL (TUF)
3.2 SWOT Analysis
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com /reports/c87139


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Laos highway opening completes all-weather Southeast Asia to China land route

BANGKOK, Thailand: The landlocked country of Laos inaugurated a new highway that will allow a north-south land route connecting Southeast Asia and China to operate year-round, the Asian Development Bank said.

The opening of Route 3 Monday fills in the last stretch of road for what is supposed to be an all-weather route that at its full length connects Singapore to Beijing, the bank said in a news release.

The inauguration of the highway, which links China's Yunnan province with northern Thailand via Laos, was attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Laotian Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda.

The leaders of the six countries sharing the Mekong River — Laos, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand — were in Laos on Monday for a summit meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion bloc.

At the end of the two-day meeting they agreed on "a comprehensive five-year Plan of Action that aims to spur growth, reduce poverty, promote social development and enhance environmental protection in the subregion," the Asian Development Bank said.

Measures included a rail link joining Singapore and the southern Chinese city of Kunming.

The bank, a multilateral institution that finances development projects in Asia, said the completion of Route 3 "will create more business opportunities and provide people with easier access to social services."

"Before construction commenced on the new route, the highway was closed four months each year during the rainy season, limiting communities' access to basic social services, and impeding trade and employment opportunities in the region," it said.

Tourism in Thailand, Laos and China will also be boosted, it added.

The bank, as well as the Thai and Chinese governments, each contributed US$30 million (€18.9 million ) for the project, while Laos — one of the region's poorest countries — gave US$7 million (€4.4 million), it said.

The project to modernize the road network from the Thai capital Bangkok to Kunming was under development for more than a decade, the bank said. Read more!

Australia to Co-Sponsor Regional Interfaith Dialogue

Bob Mcmullan Mp Parliamentary Secretary For International Development Assistance Member For Fraser, I will visit Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 1 to 4 April, to attend the 'Phnom Penh Dialogue 2008 on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace and Harmony.'

Australia, together with Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines, is co-sponsoring the Phnom Penh Interfaith Dialogue. With our co-sponsors, we are committed to fostering mutual respect, understanding and tolerance among different religions and cultures across our region.

The Dialogue will involve faith and community leaders and interfaith experts from each ASEAN country, Australia, East Timor, Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

The Australian delegation comprises individuals from major faiths and religions, community workers and academics, all of whom are active in promoting interfaith values within their broader communities.

While in Phnom Penh I will meet with senior officials from the Royal Government of Cambodia and representatives from major aid donors. I will also take the opportunity to check on the progress of a number of Australian aid activities including work to support landmine victims and activities aimed at improving the incomes of the poor. I will also visit the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

For further information, please contact:
Sabina Curatolo (Mr McMullan's Office) Tel: +61 0400 318 205 AusAID Public Affairs Tel: +61 0417 680 590
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Cambodia, Qatar sign MOU of direct flight

PHNOM PENH, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Qatar set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of direct flight Tuesday afternoon, a Cambodian senior official said here Tuesday.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong made the remarks after Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, Qatar Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived at the Phnom Penh International Airport to pay an official visit in the kingdom.

The Qatar Premier's two-day visit is to strengthen the diplomatic relations between the two countries and to bring investments from the gulf-region countries to Cambodia, Hor Nam Hong said.

"We expand the direct flight service with Qatar to attract tourists and investors to our country," Moa Havannal, Secretary ofState for the Secretariat of Cambodian Civil Aviation, told Xinhua.

After signing the MOU, it will have a direct flight from Qatar to the Phnom Penh International Airport for first step, he said, adding that later the flights will be expanded to other airports.

The Qatar Premier will hold a talk with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and he will also meet with Cambodian King NorodomSihamoni, a press release from the Cambodian Foreign Ministry said.

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Interpreter of nightmares

Cambodian genocide survivor Dith Pran helped world grasp the incomprehensible.

Photographer and interpreter Dith Pran, who died Sunday of cancer, recently stressed his commonality with all humans: "I want to save lives, including my own, but Cambodians believe we just rent this body," he told The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. "It is just a house for the spirit and if the house is full of termites, it is time to leave."

His death, though, is an uncommon loss. Just being alive, Dith represented a victory over encompassing evil. What he did with that life — raising his voice persistently and eloquently to describe Cambodia's genocide — will continue to fuel efforts to recognize and prevent genocides elsewhere.

Dith, the son of a middle-class Cambodian family, spoke Cambodian, French and English. He began working as an interpreter for the New York Times in its Phnom Penh bureau in 1970. His work with reporter Syndey Schanberg would lead both to his near-death, and to his great contribution as an interpreter of Cambodia's catastrophe to the outside world.

Like so many local intepreters to the media, mostly unsung, Dith helped Schanberg navigate far more than foreign words. He was a cultural interpreter, saving Schanberg's life by hours of pleading with Cambodian soldiers who had sequestered him after the Khmer Rouge took power.

Soon after, Dith fell into Khmer Rouge hands and, like millions of his countrymen, was forced into rural slavery. Those who showed any sign of expertise or intellect were executed. Dith pretended to be a peasant, existing sometimes on bugs or blood siphoned from an ox.

His survival was miraculous: In four years the Khmer Rouge destroyed 1.7 million Cambodians in a country of only 7 million.

Dith escaped in 1979, reuniting with Schanberg in a refugee camp in Thailand. The remainder of his life was spent documenting and protesting what had happened in Cambodia's inferno. He coined the phrase "killing fields" to describe Khmer Rouge dumping sites of thousands upon thousands of corpses and bones.

His story, documented by Schanberg, inspired the film of the same name. When the Cambodian actor who portrayed Dith won an Oscar, the world learned more about Cambodia's slaughter, and a recently crushed culture gained two heroes.

Dith later launched a foundation and became a New York Times photographer. Until he died, he used all his skills — as a journalist, interpreter, celebrity and survivor — to tell their stories.

It is unfair Dith Pran couldn't live to see Cambodia's impending tribunal of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. But few individuals have spoken so powerfully, in so many idioms, as Dith did on behalf of so many.

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