Business

CIMB Thai Bank aims to be among Thailand's top three banks in terms of return on equity by 2013, says chief executive Subhak Siwaraksa.

Japanese firms may seek financial support from the Thai government if authorities can't lay out a clearer roadmap to resolve a dispute that has halted $12.1 billion worth of industrial projects.

Thanachart Bank PCL has submitted the highest bid for the 47.6% stake in Siam City Bank PCL (SCIB.TH) held by the Bank of Thailand's rescue arm, a person familiar with the deal said Friday.

In a bid to diversify investment risk in the energy industry, Thailand's PTT Group has taken a syndicated loan of US$380 million or some Bt12.5 billion from four domestic commercial banks to invest in Indonesia's coal mining business through Straits Asia Resources Limited (SAR).

China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has officially opened its Ningxia Distribution Centre in Hat Yai, the commercial district of Thailand’s southern province of Songkhla, as a venue for more accessible sales distribution to wider markets by presenting the region’s trade goods--including halal food products--and other commodities for exchange between the two countries.

Thanachart Bank, 49-percent owned by Canada's Nova Scotia Bank (BNS.TO), is the preferred bidder for a 47.6 percent stake worth $950 million in Thailand's seventh-ranked lender, beating HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L), sources close to the deal said on Thursday.

It is hard to imagine two more distrusted and reviled professions. One has been accused of torturing detainees and failing to track down Islamist terror suspects; the other is widely perceived to be responsible for the worldwide recession.

President Barack Obama says he will be much tougher with China to make sure it opens its markets to trade with the US.

The government will collaborate with neighbouring countries along the Mekong River and Australia to develop a network for organic agriculture in a move to expand exports of organic goods.

Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC Holdings Plc are among remaining candidates to buy a 47.6 percent stake in Thailand’s Siam City Bank Pcl after three bidders dropped out, people with knowledge of the matter said.