The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 30, June 2009 has come to the following decisions:
The Cabinet acknowledged the rehabilitation of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited as the Ministry of Transportation’s urgent task, as reported by the Ministry of Transportation, as follows :
In 2009, Thai Airways International Company Limited faced a liquidity problem which brought the company to a loss. The company hence hired Avant-Garde Capita company and LEK Consulting company to study and plan for the reconstruction of the business and appointed a Board of Directors for Management Planning. The rehabilitation plan has been approved by the Board and will be divided into two parts. The first is the urgent 2009 plan aimed to resolve the liquidity issue, maintain quality and increase revenue, regulate spending, slow down unnecessary investment spending, and continue to plan the rehabilitation phase. Then the company will continue to plan for a strategic aviation network, restructure the business, develop personnel and information technology systems, and restructure the long-term financial assets.
1.1 The Urgent business rehabilitation plan The primary focus is on the transportation of passengers, to maintain and increase revenues and to control costs and investments, and to resolve the liquidity issue.
1.2 Rehabilitation for the next phase In order to enhance the long-term capacity for competition, the company should support the policy approved by the Government. To ensure the company’s ability to carry out the rehabilitation plan, the procedures are the following:
(1) Supporting the policy will create a better image of the company and build confidence in
the rehabilitation plan in the financial and capital market
(2) Offer convenience in collaborating with related organizations
(3) Giving suggestions or support in the search for source of funding
(4) Studying to restructuring plan of the company’s financial asset and to support the study
in order to fulfill the objectives
(5) Supporting the rehabilitation plan in order to achieve success in the areas of aircrafts,
rent-purchase and other related elements.
The Cabinet acknowledged the agreement between union representatives and the state enterprise, as proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Sanan. The agreement can be summarized as follows :
1. Hold a meeting between the SRT and the union to reach an agreement on employment matters. When a conclusion is reached between the two parties, they are to report the results to the Deputy Prime Minister for him to present it to the Cabinet for their consideration. In the meantime, they are to slow down the process according to the Cabinet Resolution of 3 June 2009 which approved the principle regarding the management structure for the rehabilitation of the financial status of the SRT.
2. For the revocation of the rights to possess the land which belongs to the SRT, a response has been received from the Minister of Transportation that the Office of the Counter-Corruption Commission is currently reviewing the process.
3. On the union’s views, they have been involved in every step towards restructuring the railway.
4. The Board of the SRT will allow the union to participate in the consideration of the issue of labour. After the negotiation, the SRT’s union has announced that they will resume work as usual. The trains will be operated again at 18.00 hrs on 23 June 2009 and the vehicles will begin running as usual in early July.
The Cabinet approved the signing of the Agreement to establish a joint commission for bilateral cooperation between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Republic of South Africa, as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
1. South Africa has proposed an agreement on the establishment of joint committees for bilateral cooperation between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Republic of South Africa. Since 2006, Thailand and South Africa have agreed to exchange drafts, and now both parties have approved the draft of the Agreement and agreed to the signing of the Agreement. The Minister of Foreign Affairs’ visit to South Africa, as invited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa would be a good opportunity to discuss the matter.
2. The Agreement : A joint commission for bilateral cooperation is to be formed between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Republic of South to discuss the development of education cooperation and promote economic cooperation, support an agreement on specific agreements on various projects, and for consultation in areas as foreign trade and investment, agriculture, arts, education and tourism. The cooperation of the two nations is aimed to support Thai strategy in South Africa, especially in natural resources cooperation and exploration of new markets that South Africa is for Thailand.
Approval of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Geo-informatics and Space Technology Department Agency (Public Organization) and the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications (IRSA) with the People's Republic of China on the cooperation on distance exploration, remote applications, and Memorandum of Understanding between the Geo-informatics and Space Technology Department Agency (Public Organization) and the National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the US
The Cabinet has approved proposals by the Ministry of Science and Technology, including an approval of the drafted Memorandum of Understanding between the Office of Space Development and Geospatial Technology with Institute of Remote Sensing Applications (IRSA) People's Republic of China on the technological cooperation, survey, and remote applications.
The Cabinet also approved the Memorandum of Understanding between the Geo-informatics and Space Technology Department Agency (Public Organization) and the National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the USA and approved for the director of the Thai agency to sign the MOU on behalf of the Government. The Cabinet also granted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the authority to give Full Powers to the director of the Thai agency to sign the two MOUs with the PROC and US authorities.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) June 30, 2009--