Thailand: Thaibev still keen to list on set, Finance Minister confident

Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya on Wednesday voiced confidence that Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, producer of Chang beer, still wanted to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), saying the company's negotiation for listing on the Singapore bourse had not yet been finalized, Asia Pulse posted on January 5

Charoen Siriwattanapakdi, Chairman of Thai Beverage, disclosed on Tuesday he had negotiated with Hsieh Fu Hua, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Singapore Exchange for listing of the company's shares on the market since there was mounting opposition to listing of the shares on the Thai bourse.

Dr. Thanong said he had once discussed with Mr. Charoen and received his affirmation that Thai Beverage would give a top priority to SET if it decides to list on the stock market. The company had also studied and discussed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) information on listing on SET for long. "So, I firmly believe Chang beer will list and stay with the Thai stock market," he said.

The minister revealed that he raised a discussion on possible cross-trading of shares between Thailand and Singapore during a previous joint meeting of the Thai and Singapore cabinets as part of efforts to unify stock markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He said he would not urge SEC to accelerate making a final decision on the listing of Thai Beverage on the SET because the commission already has a duty to do that and must do it based on public sentiment and social readiness.

05 January, 2006