FPT offers pipeline serviceFuel from an oil depot in Ayutthaya can be transported through a pipeline to Lampang under FPT's new service. Fuel Pipeline Transportation Co (FPT), an arm of Bangkok Aviation Fuels Service Plc, has offered to send oil through its pipeline from Ayutthaya to Lampang to replace oil trucks and help reduce carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles during transport. The pipeline, with a carrying capacity of 9 billion litres per year, was developed and operated by Northern Fuel Pipeline Transportation Co (NFPT), a subsidiary of FPT. Many fuel companies are interested in this fuel transport service as an alternative to truck transport, said Mr Charoen. FPT started pipeline service in March 2019 by sending oil from its depot in Bang Pa-in district in Ayutthaya north to the province of Phichit through a 209km pipeline.

Beware the risk of a stagflation worldIn the third quarter of this year, the world economy and investment climate began to deteriorate after strong momentum in the first half. This is a signal of stagflation -- the cost of production is trending upward while demand is pressured by negative factors such as the Delta variant and tightened economic policy. The governor of the Bank of Thailand has suggested that the Ministry of Finance borrow an additional one trillion baht to remedy the "income hole" caused by the loss of labour income of about 1.3 trillion baht since last year -- and this may reach 2.6 trillion baht next year. With public debt at 8.8 trillion baht (56% of GDP), our view is that there is still room for borrowing. However, we also believe monetary policy can be of additional help, since there is room for an interest rate cut while inflation is not a risk.

Not content with following a routine of setting a growth target and calculating profit, the industrial conglomerate Siam Cement Group (SCG) pays heed to social concerns as part of its sustainable journey. Some SCG products such as paper were used to help hospital personnel cope with high levels of infections, said Mr Roongrote. COMMUNITY SPIRITESG principles play a major role in setting SCG's business direction, said Mr Roongrote. "SCG has businesses in Thailand and other Asean countries, and they bore the brunt of lockdowns," said Mr Roongrote. Marketing via digital platforms and mobile phone apps was another strategy to better serve demand and expand the customer base, said Mr Roongrote.

OIC issues waivers for firms reeling from Covid claimsThe Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) has issued seven urgent waivers to help sustain insurance companies facing liquidity issues from the surge in Covid claims. As the pandemic situation remains severe, many non-life insurers have suffered higher than expected losses from Covid claims in a short period. The measures include exempting companies from calculating capital for insurance risks from Covid insurance, allowing them to count subordinated loans as Tier 2 capital, and relaxing the minimum Tier 1 capital ratio. The OIC will also allow companies to exclude the provision for adverse deviation in the calculation of their capital reserves. Companies that meet the criteria can file a waiver request with the OIC.

Cops hunt ranger over double killingAn army ranger was on the run after allegedly shooting dead his wife and her mother and wounding his sister-in-law in Songkhla's Sabayoi district. The shooting followed a heated argument, heard by neighbours, at their home in Rai Nua village around 10.22pm on Thursday. Chuthamas's younger sister, Om Sribang, was shot in the right arm and taken to Sabayoi Hospital. Police identified Chuthamas's husband, Pheeraphat Onchart, 37, an army ranger stationed in Yala's Yaha district as the shooter. After abandoning the car he threatened a motorcyclist with an M16 rifle and stole his bike, police said.

Huawei confirms its concentration on Asia-Pacific marketGlobal tech powerhouse Huawei has affirmed Asia-Pacific is the company's "major area of focus and investment" and Huawei Cloud is now the fastest growing cloud service provider in the region. "We are going to help SMEs in Asia-Pacific use Huawei cloud infrastructure and build prosperity via access to the Huawei cloud ecosystem. We hope Huawei Cloud will become the cloud service provider of choice for governments and enterprises in the region," said Mr Xu. Abel Deng, chief executive of Huawei Technologies Thailand, recently said Thailand is a key growth market for Huawei in the region. Regarding possible restrictions from the US government on Huawei Cloud, Mr Xu said: "We are hearing those rumours.

Pushbacks force Pattaya to court domestic touristsChon Buri: Businesses in Pattaya are shifting focus from foreign travellers to local visitors after the government postponed the city's reopening until Nov 1. The reopening plan for five areas -- Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Phetchaburi -- faced another setback after the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) decided to push it back from Oct 1 to Nov 1. Business operators will meet with local tourism authorities to discuss plans to hold safe small-scale events to attract Thai tourists, he said. We are now pinning our hopes on Thai tourists who still visit Pattaya over the weekends in large numbers. Pattaya City mayor, Sonthaya Khunpluem, said that the Pattaya reopening plan has been postponed out of concern that 70% of locals in Pattaya, Sattahip and Bang Lamung districts had only received their first Covid-19 vaccine shot.

Mobile firms brace for stormThe National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has instructed all mobile phone operators to ensure networks stay up as parts of the country brace for heavy rain and possible flash floods. Trairat Viriyasirikul, acting secretary-general of the NBTC, said the office has told all mobile phone operators to be prepared for Strom Dianmu and promptly deal with any service disruptions. The move follows a storm warning from the Meteorological Department, which predicts heavy rain in 44 provinces in the North, Northeast and Central regions until today. The authorities are warning people to brace for runoff and inundation. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will inspect the flood situation in Sukhothai tomorrow, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.

The previous week, the OIC issued several measures to support insurance companies facing liquidity problems due to the huge increase in claims for Covid insurance. According to the statement from the OIC, Asia Insurance's late reimbursement of compensation is considered a violation or non-compliance with the Commerce Ministry's rules regarding the payment of compensation or the return of insurance premiums by non-life insurance companies. Asia Insurance must increase capital and raise its capital adequacy ratio to meet the levels required by law within 30 days from the date of the order, as well as provide a progress report every seven days. To ensure transparency, Asia Insurance is expected to compile a complete and up-to-date list of existing claims, and accelerate the payment of compensation in accordance with conditions prescribed in the contracts. Its direct insurance claims stood at 721 million baht, with accumulated losses of 285 million and total liabilities of 4.4 billion.

BAAC sparks up cannabis farming loan schemeMr Somkiat warned that the cannabis is not for any farmer. "You need to be highly motivated to plant cannabis because it demands close and attentive care," he said. Eligible borrowers for the cannabis loan must be community enterprises, social enterprises or agricultural cooperatives, not individual borrowers. In addition, eligible borrowers have to secure a permit from the Food and Drug Administration to plant cannabis. BAAC estimates 157 community enterprises out of a total of 10,000 nationwide have the potential to do cannabis farming.

Leaders of Australia, India, Japan, US highlight need for 'stable' PacificUS President Joe Biden, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japan Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and Australian Primer Minister Scott Morrison meet in the White House. WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia, India and Japan highlighted their Quad group's role in safeguarding a stable, democratic Indo-Pacific on Friday in a veiled dig at rival China. "This event demonstrates the strong solidarity between our four nations and our unwavering commitment to the common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed their countries' "shared democratic values." AUKUS was unveiled only last week and centers so far on a project for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines using US and British technology.

The island has opened for foreigners who are fully vaccinated to visit the resort island without quarantine. He said the government should allow antigen test kits to be used for the second test, which reduces the cost from 5,200 baht for two RT-PCR tests to around 3,000 baht. Operators received feedback from travel agents that the cost of RT-PCR tests are only 1,000 baht in Europe compared with 2,400 or 2,800 baht for a test in Phuket. Moreover, the complicated Certificate of Entry process should be streamlined to make travel to Thailand more inviting, he said. She said some tourists decided to cancel their trips in Krabi and stay in Phuket to avoid gloomy weather.

New drive to give 1m doses per dayA woman receives a booster shot at a vaccination centre at Bang Sue Grand Station on Friday. (Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut)The government on Friday kicked off a new national Covid-19 vaccination campaign aimed at administering up to 1 million doses per day to those receiving their first, second or booster shot. With a total of 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines expected to be delivered by the end of this month and another 20 million doses next month, the government is now attempting to maximise the number of injections per day to 1 million, said Anutin Charnvirakul, Public Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Prior to the beginning of the 1-million-doses-a-day campaign, Thailand was administering between 600,000 and 800,000 doses per day, he said. According to the Disease Control Department, a total of 1.16 million doses were administered to people on Friday.

The Chinese flag flutters in front of the Evergrande Center in Shanghai on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)The crisis at property giant China Evergrande Group poses a US$305 billion (10 trillion baht) conundrum for President Xi Jinping: how to impose financial discipline without fuelling social unrest. But clamping down on property prices is difficult given the fiscal dependence on the sector. That triggered a rise in property prices and the growth of developers like Evergrande, which thrived in third- and fourth-tier cities. UBS estimated there are 10 developers with potentially risky positions accounting for combined contract sales of 1.86 trillion yuan (9.6 trillion baht), nearly three times Evergrande's total.

Exports continue growth in August, but slacken paceExports rose in August at a slower pace than the previous month, attributed to the government's tighter restrictions affecting manufacturing and logistics systems. The Commerce Ministry reported on Friday customs-cleared exports rose 8.39% year-on-year in August to US$22 billion, with imports increasing by 47.9% to $23.2 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.22 billion. Exports in the real sector (excluding gold, oil-related products and weaponry) continued to rise by 19.4% in August from the same month last year. For the first eight months this year, exports expanded by 15.3% to $177 billion, while imports rose by 31% to $176 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.41 billion. Industrial product exports also increased for the sixth consecutive month with a growth rate of 3.3% in August to $17.1 billion.